Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said he did not know whether a key target of his country's air strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar had survived, but he defended the attack during a visit to London, despite UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's condemnation.
Mr Herzog said the attempted assassination of Khalid Al Hayya – Hamas’s exiled leader of Gaza and chief negotiator – was justified after he harmed hostage negotiations with “endless slime”, and for his suspected involvement in the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel had accepted almost every ceasefire proposal, he claimed, but was “faced time and time again with either a refusal or an endless procrastination by Hamas".
He blamed Mr Al Hayya, in particular, for delaying the negotiations. “He kept on refusing or saying yes with a poison pill that looks like slime, an endless slime,” Mr Herzog said.
He added that the attack was necessary "to remove some of the people if they are not willing to get to a deal".
Six people were killed after the attack on Monday, but Hamas claimed that its senior leadership, including Mr Al Hayya, had survived. Mr Herzog said he only learnt of the attack as it happened while he was on a flight to London to meet Mr Starmer.
The British Prime Minister condemned the move on Tuesday during his meeting with Mr Herzog, a Downing Street spokesman said.
“He condemned Israel’s action in Doha yesterday as completely unacceptable. He said the strikes were a flagrant violation of a key partner’s sovereignty and do nothing to secure the peace we all desperately want to see,” the spokesman said.
Mr Starmer also raised the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the UK’s coming recognition of the Palestinian state. “Turning to Gaza, he reiterated his huge concern and implored Israel to change course. They must stop the manmade famine from worsening further by letting aid in and halting their offensive operations,” the spokesman added.
The leaders agreed that Hamas will play “absolutely no role” in the future of Gaza.
Relations between the UK and Israel have been strained by the UK’s promise to recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly this month, and earlier sanctions on Israeli ministers and violent settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Mr Herzog described the meeting as “frank and open” but also “tough”, when speaking at foreign affairs think tank Chatham House the same evening. “Things were said that were tough and strong, and clearly we can argue, because when allies meet, they can argue, we are both democracies,” he said.
He also raised Israel’s concerns that recognising Palestine would be a reward for Hamas, and said it would be "dangerous" for a future peace process.
Mr Herzog rejected claims by UN-backed agencies of a famine unfolding in Gaza, and said he had invited Mr Starmer to send a British fact-finding mission to Israel, to view its military’s data on Gaza.
“We have a monitoring system on an hourly basis of everything from calories to electricity to water to food supplies to distribution and everywhere,” he said.
He did not say whether the proposed mission would be allowed to enter Gaza. “We have it all transparent and open. We supply it every day, and we can show the difference between what is reported and what is happening on the ground.”
Gaza had seen a “major change” in the flow of aid in the past two months, with “tonnes of food” entering, resulting in a “major reduction” in the cost of food there in recent days, Mr Herzog claimed.
