Is it wise for Prince William to wade in on the Israel-Gaza war?

The Prince of Wales’s statement on the Israel-Gaza conflict raises more questions than answers. William has announced that he is ‘deeply concerned about the terrible human cost of conflict in the Middle East since the Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October’, before saying explicitly: ‘Too many have been killed.’ He then declares that ‘I, like so many others, want to see an end to the fighting as soon as possible’, before calling for increased humanitarian support to Gaza, the influx of aid and the release of hostages. The statement then concludes with him stressing ‘the importance of permanent peace’ and by saying ‘Even in the darkest hour, we must not succumb to the counsel of despair. I continue to cling to the hope that a brighter future can be found and I refuse to give up on that.’

They are fine, noble sentiments (even if the ‘counsel of despair’ phrase is rather odd) but is it wise for William to wade in on this subject? The last time that William made any kind of public statement about the Middle Eastern conflict was on 11 October, when both the king and the Princess and Princess of Wales unequivocally condemned ‘the barbaric acts of terrorism’.