President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday held a phone call with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The leaders’ talks focused on the Palestine-Israel conflict.
The Presidency’s Directorate of Communications said that Sunak and Erdoğan spoke about the current situation, policies to establish peace and immediate measures to resolve the humanitarian emergency in Gaza.
Erdoğan said Western countries should be more proactive against human rights violations in Gaza, which suffers from an Israeli siege, and avoid steps "that deepen the crisis." Erdoğan added the international community should fulfill its promises to Palestine.
Sunak has promised to "always" stand with Israel one week after the attack by Hamas, as concerns grow about the fate of civilians in Gaza ahead of an imminent offensive. Tens of thousands took to the streets across the U.K. on Saturday to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. In London, marchers carrying flags and flares chanted pro-Palestinian slogans as former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn joined crowds urging Israeli restraint as civilians suffer under a total siege. Chants of "Rishi Sunak, shame on you" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" rang out among the crowd as the gathering made its way through the capital to Downing Street. The heavily policed rally took place with little incident, although the Metropolitan Police said 15 people were arrested over the day and into the evening. Nine officers were treated for minor injuries amid altercations between police and a small minority of protesters in Trafalgar Square after the main gathering broke up.
The prime minister, in his statement on Saturday, offered a direct message to Israel and Britain’s Jewish community after the conflict broke out.
He said the U.K. will do "everything we can to support Israel in restoring the security it deserves." "We stand with Israel, not just today, not just tomorrow, but always," he said. "And I stand with you, the British Jewish community, not just today, not tomorrow, but always. Am Yisrael Chai." Sunak’s statement was questioned by Amnesty International U.K., which said it was "deeply troubling" that the Prime Minister failed to mention the Palestinian civilians killed in the conflict or call for international law to be upheld. Twelve aid agencies, including Oxfam, Action Against Hunger and Action Aid, also called on Sunak and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to use the U.K.’s influence to help "prevent further suffering." Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer, who reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself, on Saturday called for all parties to the conflict to follow international law and ensure "safe humanitarian corridors in Gaza for those fleeing violence."
Demonstrations also took in Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and in locations across the country. In the Scottish capital, thousands of people staged an impromptu march to the Scottish Parliament, marching from The Mound, where the protest was held, and down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile before taking a knee in solidarity with Palestinians caught up in the conflict.
Ahead of the rallies, Home Secretary Suella Braverman urged police chiefs to consider whether chanting some pro-Palestine slogans could amount to an offense while also suggesting waving Palestinian flags could, in some contexts, be seen as illegitimate.