The temporary truce came into effect early on Friday, setting the stage for the exchange of dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
Sunak tweeted: “This humanitarian pause is critical to end the terrible ordeal of hostages held by Hamas and get life-saving aid into Gaza.
“I want to thank Qatar, Egypt and others for the intensive diplomacy that has got us here. We will not stop until all hostages are safely returned.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/nov/24/israel-hamas-war-live-ceasefire-set-to-begin-on-friday-morning-with-hostage-release-due-shortly-after?page=with:block-65605c6f8f082789f6745cd8#block-65605c6f8f082789f6745cd8
If you think this through it is clear that Sunak is endorsing a swap of humanitarian aid with hostages. That means he is endorsing the policy of withholding humanitarian aid from civilians as a tactic to pressurise Hamas to make a political decision. This is holding civilians hostage. It seems to be contrary to International Law to block humanitarian aid to an occupied territory.
One of the disturbing aspects of the war in Gaza (assault by Israel) is how readily so many (but not all) Western politicians have slipped into endorsing actions and policies by Israel which many neutral observers, UN bodies and respected NGOs are referring to as “potential war crimes”. It as if when put to the test it seems we have no values at all.
(For avoidance of doubt – when I see a Hamas spokesman denouncing Israeli war crimes I cannot help but notice that there is precious little moral basis for his denunciations given what Hamas undoubtedly did on October 7).