'This was truly Israel's 9\11' says DUP MP Jim Shannon

Speaking following a House of Commons debate on the crisis engulfing the region, the Strangford MP praised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for his strong support for Israel, and said it is important that the PM instructs UK police forces to take action against those displaying terrorist flags and openly supporting the Hamas acts of terrorism.

“This was truly Israel’s 9\11,” Mr Shannon said.

“The horror of what happened last Saturday and Sunday in Israel underlines the magnitude [of the situation] – the 1,400 people who were killed, the 3,500 who were injured and the 150 who were kidnapped and under Hamas imprisonment.”

At least six Britons were killed in Israel and a further 10 are missing, Mr Sunak told MPs.

“The elderly, men, women, children, babes in arms, murdered, mutilated, burned alive,” he said.

Mr Sunak said he also recognised in a Commons statement that the Palestinian people are “victims of Hamas too” as he announced an extra £10 million of aid funding.

It came as the BBC reported two British sisters, named only as Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, were among those missing while their mother Lianne, who was born in the UK, was killed in the October 7 attack.

Mr Sunak said eight flights so far have brought back 500 British nationals from Israel, with more leaving in the coming hours.

Addressing the British Jewish community, he said: "We stand with you now and always. This atrocity was an existential strike at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland for the Jewish people.”Meanwhile, Belgian authorities have raised the terror alert to its highest level in the capital after the fatal shooting of two Swedish people in Brussels which Prime Minister Alexander De Croo suggested was linked to terrorism.

The two victims were killed as Sweden played Belgium in a Euro 2024 qualifying match.