'Immediate steps' needed toward Gaza cease-fire, British premier tells Israeli president

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Israel's President Isaac Herzog in Paris that there needed to be "immediate steps" toward a cease-fire in Gaza.

"The Prime Minister said there must be immediate steps towards a ceasefire, so that hostages can be released and more humanitarian aid can get in for those in desperate need," Starmer's office said in a statement on Sunday.

"The Prime Minister reiterated his ongoing support for Israel’s right to self-defense in accordance with international law. He was clear that there is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democratic state actions and Hamas, a terrorist organization," the statement added.

The two also discussed the continuation of bilateral cooperation in key areas such as trade and investment.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

More than 39,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 90,800 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.