UK PRIME Minister Rishi Sunak and US Vice President Kamala Harris reiterated “Israel’s right to defend itself against terror” as protesters shouted "blood on your hands" outside the gates of Downing Street.
Sunak welcomed Harris on her first visit to Downing Street, with the Prime Minister saying they would have conversations about the “global situation”, including Israel and Gaza.
Protesters, some waving Palestinian flags, shouted “ceasefire now” and "blood on your hands" as the US Vice President arrived for the meeting.
As Kamala Harris meets Rishi Sunak, both get the reception that they deserve. pic.twitter.com/rLOQlBrwg4
— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) November 1, 2023
Sunak welcomed Harris, and in her reply she said: “I also want to thank you for the position that you and the United Kingdom have taken in terms of what is happening in Israel with Hamas.
“As we’ve both stated, Hamas is a terrorist organisation and what happened in Israel is horrendous by any measure.”
Harris said Israel has a “right to defend itself”, there must be “no conflation between the Palestinian people and Hamas”, and there “should not be any intentional targeting” of civilians.
A Downing Street spokesperson, in a readout issued after the meeting between the two, said: “The Prime Minister reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself against terror as well as the need to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza and to free hostages taken by Hamas.
“Both agreed that the UK and US were aligned in these efforts and would continue to work with partners in the region to ensure stability.”
The pair’s doubling down of their stance comes after the director of the New York Office of the UN high commissioner for human rights specifically hit out at the UK and US governments in his resignation letter yesterday.
In his four-page resignation letter, Craig Mokhiber said they “are wholly complicit in the horrific assault”.
The letter added: “I also worked in these halls through the genocides against the Tutsis, Bosnian Muslims, the Yazidi, and the Rohingya.
“In each case, when the dust settled on the horrors that had been perpetrated against defenceless civilian populations, it became painfully clear that we had failed in our duty to meet the imperatives of prevention of mass atrocities, of protection of the vulnerable, and of accountability for perpetrators.
“And so it has been with successive waves of murder and persecution against the Palestinian throughout the entire life of the UN.
“High Commissioner, we are failing again.”
His comments come after the UN General Assembly on Friday approved a non-binding resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza which they said should lead to a cessation of hostilities.
The 193-member world body adopted the resolution by a vote of 120 For, 14 Against, including the US, with 45 abstentions, including the UK.
