UK asks Israel to allow foreign observers to visit Palestinian detainees: Report

JERUSALEM

The UK asked Israel to allow foreign observers to visit Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails, according to Israeli media on Thursday.

The British request was about to be approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but strong opposition from far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir prevented this from happening, Maariv newspaper said.

Ben-Gvir conditioned his approval to allow foreign observers to visit Israeli hostages held by Hamas to accept the British request, the newspaper said.

There was no comment from British or Israeli authorities on the report.

Hamas is believed to be holding more than 130 Israeli hostages following its Oct. 7 cross-border attack, while nearly 9,100 Palestinians are held by Tel Aviv.

Mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the US to reach a Gaza cease-fire and hostage-prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas have failed to make any breakthrough.

Hamas demands an end to Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip for any hostage-prisoner swap deal with Tel Aviv.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 34,300 Palestinians have since been killed and 77,300 others injured amid a tight siege imposed by Israel, which left the entire population, especially residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara