He spoke on the eve of a crucial parliamentary vote, as Sir Keir Starmer attempted to avert a damaging rebellion from Labour MPs by backing an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”. The Government retaliated with its own amendment, which did not go so far, supporting “moves towards a permanent ceasefire” instead.
On Tuesday night, a Downing Street source confirmed that the Kensington Palace team had approached it with the Prince’s statement in advance, saying: “We saw it in advance and we were comfortable with it.”
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said the Government welcomed the comments, which chimed with increasing global calls for a ceasefire. Asked whether Rishi Sunak agreed with William’s assessment of the Israel-Hamas war, the spokesman said: “Yes, his comments echo those that you have heard previously from the Prime Minister.
“We want to see an end to the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible, so it is consistent with the Government position and we welcome that intervention.”
Prince William’s choice of words echoed a speech made by Mr Sunak at London’s Guildhall in November when he warned that too many civilians were losing their lives in the conflict.
His intervention came as Joe Biden’s US administration broke with the Israeli government this week to warn that the planned invasion of the Gazan city of Rafah “should not proceed under current circumstances”.
In a draft United Nations resolution, it pushed for a vote on a “temporary ceasefire” and said invading the city, where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering, would have “serious implications for regional peace and security”.
On Tuesday, Amichai Chikli, an Israeli minister said the attempt to use the UN to halt its Rafah offensive was “ethically reprehensible”, describing calls for a ceasefire as a “strategic folly”.
Earlier, the US was the only UN Security Council member to veto Algeria’s draft UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, warning that it would jeopardise “sensitive” negotiations between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar over a hostage release deal.
