In the last few moments, we have heard from Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer as she addresses a vigil for Israeli victims in north London.
Sky News correspondent Shamaan Freeman-Powell is at the Unite for Israel special service at St John’s Wood synagogue, and says hundreds of people are there.
She sent this report from the event…
While the men and women sit separately in London’s largest synagogue, everyone here is united.
United in both grief for those who have been killed, and in prayer for those still held captive
The service began with Dayan Ivan Binstock. The Rabbi of St John’s Wood invited three young Israeli girls to light three candles to mark the loss of life.
Ms Frazer was the first speaker invited to the stage where she opened her address to reflect on the last few days.
“We are at the moment witnessing the most horrific and terrible tragedy, something we thought and hoped we would never see again in our lifetime,” she began.
She then reflected on conversation held with her cousin who lives in Israel in just the last few hours.
There was silence as she shared this story, many seemingly nodding in agreement, signalling that perhaps they too have received similar messages from loved ones.
But the silence was interrupted by a resounding round of applause when she ended her speech, saying: “What I wanted to do was come here today and tell you on behalf of government you are not alone.
“I wanted to tell you if it wasn’t already clear that the UK government stands with Israel.”
Shells launched ‘from Syria’ – Israel fires back
A number of shells have been launched from Syrian territory towards Israel, said Israel’s military.
Some landed in open areas in Israeli territory, it said, adding no further details.
Israeli soldiers are responding with artillery and mortar shells, said the military.
Leave a Reply