The foreign secretary says the government has "reaffirmed" its support for Israel's "right to defend itself" against a "terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas" during a COBRA meeting in Downing Street, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group escalates. James Cleverly adds that he has spoken with his counterparts in the region, including the Egyptian Foreign Minister about its land border and crossing point from Israel. Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 Well, this afternoon the Prime Minister chaired a Cobra meeting where we assessed the situation
00:06 on the ground. We reaffirmed our support to Israel in its self-defence against this terrorist
00:14 attack perpetrated by Hamas against unarmed civilians in many instances. I've been speaking
00:23 with foreign ministers from around the region and beyond. The Prime Minister has engaged
00:28 with the Israeli Prime Minister and will be engaging with our allies. This is an ongoing
00:33 situation and of course we will be reviewing our support to Israel and of course British
00:38 nationals in Israel as the situation progresses. Well, because of Israel's, I think, unique
00:46 status there are a large number of British-Israeli dual nationals. Of course, many of those people
00:53 will regard Israel as their permanent home. Many of them will be members of the Israeli
00:58 Defence Force and many of them, of course, will be planning to stay in Israel. We have
01:07 made consular numbers available for any British nationals who are seeking to leave. Flights
01:13 are still available so there are opportunities to leave Israel if people want to do that.
01:20 And of course, as the situation develops, we will remain in very, very close contact
01:25 with the Israeli government to make sure that we are providing the support that they need
01:29 to defend themselves against this terrorist attack. Well, this is a fast-moving situation
01:35 and therefore I'm uncomfortable speculating about the nature or the numbers of people
01:41 involved but this is unprecedented. We recognise this is an incredibly difficult time for the
01:46 people of Israel. Our thoughts are with them and we will continue to work with the government
01:51 of Israel to bring about peace and security to that country and the people there. Well,
01:57 I have spoken with the Egyptian foreign minister and of course there is a land border with
02:04 Egypt and a crossing point into Egypt, the management of which, of course, is the responsibility
02:10 of the Egyptian government but we remain in close contact with them. Of course, we speak
02:16 to the governments of all the countries in the region to try and ensure that we bring
02:22 peace to the people of Israel and to the state of Israel as quickly as possible. Israel has
02:30 a right to defend itself against attack. The UK completely supports Israel's right to defend
02:37 itself proportionately. The truth of the matter is that this was a terrorist attack perpetrated
02:44 by Hamas who are embedded in Gaza, shielding themselves amongst the Palestinian people
02:50 in Gaza and we will continue to support Israel as it seeks to defend itself against this
02:56 brutal terrorist attack initiated by Hamas. We should recognise that Hamas are a terrorist
03:04 organisation. They are not acting on behalf of the entirety of the Palestinian people
03:10 or indeed the other countries in the region. Israel has told us they are very focused on
03:17 dealing with this specific terrorist threat from Hamas. I have spoken with representatives
03:23 of governments around the region and we are all agreed that nobody wants this to spill
03:30 out into other parts of the region. Israel are very focused on dealing with the specific
03:35 terrorist threat from Hamas emanating from Gaza. That remains their focus and we continue
03:41 to support them in that work.