Sunak declares ‘watershed moment’ in Middle East

Rishi Sunak’s update to MPs on the Israel-Hamas conflict today included the revelation that the UK security services had concluded the strike on the al-Ahli Arab hospital had come from a rocket fired within Gaza and aimed at Israel. He announced this within a section about the importance of tone and language, and pointed out that the rush to attribute blame in the reporting had a significant impact on the conflict, including the meetings organised by the US. Sunak’s statement was meatier than the one he gave last week. It included the line, which he didn’t fully elaborate on, that this was a ‘watershed moment’ for the region.

What he did explain would be part of the ‘watershed’ was a renewed commitment to the two-state solution, which he said had been neglected:

Our support for a two-state solution is highly valued across the region, but it can’t be a cliched talking point to roll out at times like this.