Israel-Hamas war: The key conversations taking place between nations

The most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas has already claimed at least 2,700 lives.

Israel’s military, according to the United Nations, has now told more than one million Palestinians to move to the south of Gaza ahead of what could be a ground offensive.

The country is targeting Hamas after the militant group carried out a wave of attacks in Israel as gunmen stormed the border and killed hundreds in their homes – as well as 260 others at a music festival.

As Israel’s war with Hamas rages on, we look at some of the key conversations relating to the war that have taken place between nations worldwide.

Rishi Sunak spoke to Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to “reaffirm the UK’s steadfast support for Israel following Hamas’ appalling terrorist attack”, a Number 10 spokesperson said.

Following the talks, the UK confirmed it is sending RAF aircraft and Royal Navy ships to carry out surveillance over Israel in a show of support.

Sunak has also asked for all military teams in Israel, Cyprus and those across the region to be bolstered to help deal with the impact of instability in Israel following the attack by Hamas.

The prime minister also spoke to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Thursday to acknowledge the challenging security situation at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

His spokesperson said: “He [Sunak] offered the UK’s support to try to manage this situation and keep the route open for humanitarian and consular reasons, including for British nationals.”

Israel: US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to meet with senior government leaders.

He met Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and spent nearly two hours with minister of defence, Yoav Gallant, and the Israeli War Cabinet.

Defence officials travelling with Austin said he wanted to underscore America’s unwavering support for the people of Israel and commitment to making sure the country has what it needs to defend itself.

Austin is the second high-level US official to visit Israel in two days after secretary of state Antony Blinken was there yesterday.

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Qatar: Antony Blinken is visiting Doha for meetings with Qatari officials.

Blinken and the country’s prime minister plan to discuss developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict, ways to de-escalate it and the protection of civilians, according to a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson.

Qatari officials have close contacts with the Hamas leadership and claim they have been in talks with the group to swap Israeli women and children for Palestinian prisoners.

Israel has said it has no intention of negotiating with Hamas.

Blinken will also visit Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as part of his largest tour of the Middle East since he took office in January 2021.

The secretary of state said: “Across each of these engagements, we’ll continue pressing countries to help prevent the conflict from spreading, and to use their leverage with Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages.”

He began the tour in Tel Aviv in Israel on Thursday, before he met Palestine’s president Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan, along with Jordanian king Abdullah, in Amman.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Wednesday, in the first telephone call between the two leaders since a China-brokered deal between Tehran and Riyadh to resume ties in March.

According to state media in Iran, the pair discussed the “need to end war crimes against Palestine.”

The Saudi crown prince, Saudi’s state media said, “affirmed that the kingdom is making all possible efforts in communicating with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation.”

Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said he has spoken to Benjamin Netanyahu about how his country can best support Israel.

The chancellor told German parliament on Thursday that he offered military help to Israel and promised to crack down on support for the militant Hamas group at home.

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Germany has also given Israel the go-ahead to use two of its Heron TP combat drones in its counter-attack against Hamas.

Mr Scholz said he has asked Netanyahu to inform Germany of any other needs, “for example the treatment of wounded”.

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