18 October 2023 , 13:08
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British intelligence experts are carrying out their own investigation into who was behind the blast at a hospital in Gaza - and will reveal their findings.
Following early morning crisis talks with his National Security Adviser and the Joint Intelligence Committee chairwoman, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told MPs: “Our intelligence services have been rapidly analysing the evidence to independently establish the facts." Foreign Secretary James Cleverly later pledged the results of the probe into the explosion at the al-Ahli hospital would be made public.
Answering an urgent Commons question, Mr Cleverly said: “We are carefully analysing the evidence that has been put into the public domain and other information. As soon as we have reached a definitive conclusion for ourselves we will make that public.” He added: “This is a time for cool heads.”
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly updated the Commons following the explosion at at the al-Ahli Hospital (PA)Mr Cleverly described the “destruction” of the hospital as “an appalling tragedy” which inflicted a “devastating loss of human life that is profoundly disturbing”. He went on: “The UK is working intensively with our allies to establish the facts. We will not rush to judgement. Pointing fingers prematurely only fuels regional instability and upsets community cohesion here in the UK. We need a firm grasp of what’s happened, not a slew of social media commentary.”
Urging MPs and the wider public to wait until the Government had carried out its investigation, he added: “I appreciate and understand the House and indeed the country will want to understand what is going on in real time - and sometimes the pause that we impose upon ourselves to make sure the information the Government provides is accurate can be frustrating. But I would prefer, of course, to be accurate rather than just work at pace.”
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After landing in Tel Aviv this morning, US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Based on what I have seen, it was done by the other team, not you.” But Mr Cleverly told MPs: “We take note of what President Biden has said but we will come to our own judgement.”
He said the UK’s assessment will be published “as soon as we are confident of the details” and “when we are comfortable of the facts”. He added: “We will not be led by any other nation, it will be a UK assessment.”
The Scottish National Party’s foreign affairs spokesman Brendan O’Hara said the explosion at the hospital was a “war crime, it was a crime against humanity”. He added: “If that is the case there can be no hiding place for those who gave the order and those who carried it out. Independent investigators must be allowed to find out exactly who was responsible for this atrocity and have them brought before the International Criminal Court.”
Downing Street warned it was "deeply irresponsible" to jump to conclusions over the explosion. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman said "no-one should be taking at face value the word of a terrorist organisation" after Hamas blamed the Israeli military.
"We are speaking to the US of course but we will be speaking to our partners in the intelligence agencies carrying out their own work. At this point we're not attributing," the spokesman said. Jumping to conclusions is deeply irresponsible given the seriousness of the situation. Sadly some groups are using these events to stir up hatred on all sides which is utterly abhorrent and unacceptable... no one should be taking at face value the word of a terrorist organisation."
Speaking on a visit to Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, Mr Sunak called for a "calm and cool" approach in response to the hospital blast.
"It is important in this instance not to jump to conclusions, we have to establish the facts and premature speculation, I think, would be wrong, that's not the right thing,” he said. "This is a very heightened, sensitive situation so we just need calm heads. Our intelligence services are working through the evidence themselves."
He added: "It's right that we let our intelligence services work through the evidence, we are also talking to allies to establish what's happened. This is obviously a complicated situation on the ground but it is right that we approach it with a calm and cool manner, don't rush to premature judgments, take the time to understand what's happened."