(London) A year after the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel, Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday calls on the British to “unequivocally support” the Jewish community, at a time when anti-Semitic acts have sharply increased in the country .
“We must unequivocally support the Jewish community and unite as a country,” said the Labor leader in a statement released on the first anniversary of the October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people.
“We must never look away from hatred,” he added, referring to the explosion of anti-Semitic acts.
According to a report from an anti-racist association, the number of anti-Semitic acts has tripled in the United Kingdom over the past year, with more than 5,000 incidents recorded.
Describing October 7 as “the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust”, Mr. Starmer assures that “the pain and pain” of the families who lost a loved one during this bloody attack are “shared in every home in the country.
“A year later, this collective grief has neither diminished nor weakened,” he emphasizes.
At the same time, Mr. Starmer believes that “we must also not look away while civilians suffer the disastrous consequences of this conflict in the Middle East”, calling once again for a ceasefire in the strip from besieged Gaza and Lebanon.
In retaliation for the October 7 attack, Israel launched a military operation which has so far killed at least 41,870 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Hamas.
The situation has also deteriorated in Lebanon. After days of intense bombing targeting the pro-Iran Hezbollah movement, Israel launched a ground offensive on Monday in southern Lebanon, one of the strongholds of the Lebanese armed movement.
On Sunday, thousands of people gathered in central London to pay tribute to the victims of October 7.