Israel-Gaza live: Netanyahu warns Hamas ‘next stage coming’ as IDF to strike from air, land and sea

The UK is open to holding talks with China over the Israeli-Hamas conflict, Britain’s foreign secretary said.

He told Times Radio: “I haven’t spoken directly with (China foreign minister) Wang Yi, (US Secretary of State) Tony Blinken has, I’ll be comparing notes with him later today.

“One of the points I’ve long made is that engagement matters, it is important work … as I say, I’ll be comparing notes with Tony Blinken to see whether there is utility in speaking with the Chinese foreign minister.

“But engagement with China is important, I’ve always made the case that engagement with China is important so I may well do depending on the feedback I get from my conversation with Tony Blinken later on today.”

Humza Yousaf’s mother-in-law said “her goodbyes” in a panicked call to the First Minister and his wife early on Sunday morning following a false alarm, he has said.

Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg from the SNP conference in Aberdeen, the First Minister said: “Last night was a very difficult night, if I’m honest.

“We got a call at one in the morning from my mother in law in a panic.”

Someone in the neighbourhood where they live, he said, had been told to evacuate their home because it was due to be hit, leaving neighbours “running to goodness and God knows where”.

“You can imagine the panic, and my mother-in-law was even saying her goodbyes, which was pretty hard to hear.”

The alert, however, was a “false alarm”, the First Minister said.

David Lammy told the Trevor Phillips On Sunday programme on Sky News: “He is entitled to have his own operational desire to see an end to Hamas and we support him in that.

When asked if that support remained if that desire leads to “carnage” that sweeps up innocent civilians he said: “No, we must distinguish between Hamas, a terrorist group, and the Palestinian people.

“International law must prevail and that means that you have to minimise civilian casualties.”

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is entitled to have an “operational desire” to “see an end to Hamas” but must act within international law, the shadow foreign secretary has said.

At least 279 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Hamas launched a murderous attack on southern Israel last Saturday, the IDF said.

On Saturday, the Israel Defence Forces launched “localised raids” into Gaza to locate dead Israelis and attempt to find missing citizens.

Among those missing is the 75-year-old mother of British citizen Noam Sagi, who went missing from the Nir Oz kibbutz near the border with Gaza.

Mr Sagi has not heard from his mother, Ada, since she called in distress last Saturday morning to say Hamas gunmen had stormed the kibbutz.

Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy has said the question of whether anyone should be arrested at pro-Palestine protests is a matter for the police.

Asked where the limit of free expression on the issue was, Mr Lammy told Sky News:“I think that these are decisions that it’s right that the police make on the ground. Let me give you a distinction: We have to live in a country where people are free to wave their national flag and be proud of where they come from.

“But if you are doing that outside a synagogue, clearly intimidating and harassing, you’re contravening the law.”

Organisers say around 150,000 people marched in central London on Saturday, with thousands more in other cities.

Labour has advised its members not to attend the gatherings.While the protests were generally peaceful, critics have raised questions about some of the anti-Israel signs displayed by a small minority of attendees – and whether they might constitute a public order offence.

Pushed on the matter, Mr Lammy told the broadcaster: “We live in a free society but we do not tolerate intimidation.“I am not here to act as the director of public prosecutions and to make those determinations on the ground. Those are determinations for the police and subsequently the courts.”

The IDF has extended its deadline for ordering the evacuation of Gazan civilians from the north of the enclave.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, it said: “Residents of Gaza City and northern Gaza, in the past days, we’ve urged you to relocate to the southern area for your safety.

“We want to inform you that the IDF will not carry out any operations along this route from 10 AM to 1 PM. During this window, please take the opportunity to move southward from northern Gaza. Your safety and that of your families matters.

“Please follow our instructions and head southward. Be assured, Hamas leaders have already ensured their safety and that of their families.”

Hamas wants to turn the conflict in Israel into a “war between the Muslim world and the wider world”, Britain’s foreign secretary James Cleverly said.

He told Sunday With Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “I have said it’s in Israel’s interest to avoid civilian casualties and Palestinian casualties because Hamas clearly wants to turn this into a wider Arab-Israeli war or indeed a war between the Muslim world and the wider world and none of us, including Israel, want that to be the case and so that’s why we do give that strong advice from a position of friendship.”

He added: “I’ve said that restraint, discipline these are the hallmarks of the Israel Defence Force that I want to see and indeed those are the hallmarks of a high-functioning military organisation, which the IDF is – in stark contrast to the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas.”