Kemi backs Gaza ceasefire as aid arrives

KEMI Badenoch has insisted a ceasefire in Gaza is “the right thing” — but stressed that scenes of starving Palestinian children have not changed her support for Israel.

- By Stephen Beech

The Tory leader’s comments came as Israel made a series of aid airdrops to Gaza and announced 10-hour daily pauses in all military operations.

It followed mounting international pressure over the Palestinian territory's escalating hunger crisis.

The Israeli military also established three humanitarian corridors for vital food and medicines to enter the Gaza Strip.

Western governments have called on Israel to ease its blockade of Gaza after aid agencies warned “mass starvation” is taking hold.

Conservative leader Ms Badenoch told Sky News: “The right thing is for there to be a ceasefire.

“A lot of people are suffering on both sides, but we must not forget how this started. On October 7, a massacre occurred. It was an act of war. There are still people who are being held hostage and they need to be brought home. All of this could be brought to an end, except that those territories are being run by a terrorist organisation. We cannot allow it.

“War is a difficult situation and what I see when I see Israel is a country that is trying to defend itself, mostly from Iran and a lot of its proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis. I think they are in a very difficult situation.

Malnutrition