Politics
Starmer: Britain will not mourn Sinwar’s death
The Prime Minister said his thoughts were with the families of Hamas’s victims
October 18, 2024 08:20
The Prime Minister said his thoughts were with the families of Hamas’s victims
October 18, 2024 08:20Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said that the UK would not mourn the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
In a statement he said that: “As the leader of the terrorist group Hamas, Yahya Sinwar was the mastermind behind the deadliest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust, as 1200 people were slaughtered in Israel.”
The Prime Minister went on to say that his “thoughts are with the families of those victims” before repeating calls for the “release of all hostages, an immediate ceasefire and an increase in humanitarian aid are long overdue so we can move towards a long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East.”
Starmer is on a visit to Berlin on Friday for talks with US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The leaders are expected to discuss the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
Back in the UK, politicians from across the political spectrum condemned the Hamas leader.
Opposition leader Rishi Sunak said in a post on X/Twitter that Sinwar’s “removal marks a significant step towards justice.”
He added that: “Britain must remain committed to supporting Israel’s right to defend itself against terror and to ensuring peace in the region.”
Calum Miller MP, the Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson said in a statement that Sinwar’s “actions have caused terrible suffering, not least to the victims of 7 October, the hostages and their families,” before calling on Israel to allow more aid into northern Gaza and for both sides to work towards achieving a ceasefire.
Labour Friends of Israel’s parliamentary chair Jon Pearce MP told the JC: "Sinwar was a sick and twisted murderer, with zero regard for the lives of Israelis or Palestinians.”
With him removed, “every effort must be made to seize this opportunity to bring all of the hostages home and end the heartbreaking conflict in Gaza", the MP for High Peak said.
Sinwar, one of the architects of Hamas’s atrocities on October 7, was killed by the IDF in Tel Sultan in Rafah, in the southern area of the Gaza strip, on Wednesday afternoon.
In a statement to the press on Thursday night, IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari confirmed that Sinwar had been killed: “We fired on the building and went in to search. We found him with a flak jacket and a gun and 40,000 shekels.”
Another mission accomplished. ✅ pic.twitter.com/4QxO52fiAB
— יואב גלנט - Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) October 17, 2024
After confirmation that Sinwar had been killed, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant posted a graphic on social media with a red cross over Sinwar’s face, alongside similar images of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the former commander of Hamas’s military wing Mohammed Deif, both killed by Israeli military action in recent months, along with the caption “Another mission accomplished.”