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London: The King is appalled by the “barbaric acts of terrorism” in Israel, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said on Wednesday, following attacks by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
Charles III became the most senior member of the royal family to visit Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories in 2020, when he met former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
King Charles on a street lined with Union Flags as he walks to visit the Mosque of Omar in January 2020 in Bethlehem, Israel. Credit: Getty Images
“His majesty is appalled by and condemns the barbaric acts of terrorism in Israel,” the palace spokesperson said.
“This is a situation his majesty is extremely concerned about, and he has asked to be kept actively updated. His thoughts and prayers are with all of those suffering, particularly those who have lost loved ones, but also those actively involved as we speak.”
During his 2020 trip he spoke of the evil of the Holocaust and the dangers of antisemitism, as well as expressing sadness over the suffering and hardship faced by Palestinians, wishing them “freedom, justice and equality” in the future.
He previously travelled to Jerusalem in 1995 and 2016 to attend the funerals of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and President Shimon Peres. He also visited the tomb of his grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece, who is buried on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives. She was honoured by Israel for sheltering Jews in her palace in Nazi-occupied Greece during the Holocaust.
King Charles meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at his official Bethlehem residence in January 2020.Credit: Getty Images
Israel’s death toll has reached 1200 with more than 2700 wounded, its military has said, during the Hamas militants’ hours-long rampage after breaching the border fence around Gaza on Saturday. Retaliatory strikes on the blockaded enclave have killed 1055 people and wounded 5184, Gaza’s Hamas authorities said.
William, the Prince of Wales, also undertook an official visit Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories in 2018, then the first senior royal to do so, speaking of his hopes there could be a “just and lasting peace”.
His spokesperson said he and wife Catherine, the Princess of Wales were “profoundly distressed” by the events that have unfolded in the past days.
“The horrors inflicted by Hamas’s terrorist attack upon Israel are appalling; they utterly condemn them. As Israel exercises its right of self-defence, all Israelis and Palestinians will continue to be stalked by grief, fear and anger in the time to come,” a spokesperson said.
Prince William at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem in June 2018.Credit: EPA Pool
The King made his views known on the same day it was announced he will travel to Kenya later this month for a state visit full of symbolism.
His mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, learned she had become queen while visiting a game preserve in the East African nation in 1952.
The trip will be his first to a Commonwealth nation since he succeeded his mother last year, underscoring the King’s commitment to an organisation that has been central to Britain’s global power and prestige since World War II.
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 independent countries, most of which have historical ties to the United Kingdom and its former empire. Charles became the symbolic head of the organisation after his mother died last year, but the honour is not hereditary.
He plans to meet with Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto and to visit Nairobi National Park, where he will have a chance to demonstrate his concern for environmental preservation and fighting climate change.
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