Charles has said he is “appalled” by Hamas (Image: Getty)
Horrified King Charles has said he is “appalled” by Hamas’s “barbaric” terror acts against Israel. Buckingham Palace said the King was “extremely concerned” and his thoughts and prayers were with all who were suffering.
Israel has vowed unprecedented retaliation against the Palestinian militant group Hamas after its terrorists stormed through the Gaza border on Saturday. They went on to kill hundreds, including babies, in their homes, on streets and at a music festival.
The Jewish state has launched a barrage of air strikes on the territory and stopped food, water, fuel and medicine supplies.
The violence has already claimed at least 2,100 lives on both sides, with fears it could escalate further.
A Palace spokesman 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.”
READ MORE King Charles ‘phones Israeli President’ after slamming ‘barbaric’ acts of terror
He added: “His Majesty is appalled by and condemns the barbaric acts of terrorism in Israel.”
The King, 74, spoke to Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, and King Abdullah of Jordan yesterday, to express condolences and try to encourage key Middle East players to avoid a wider confrontation.
Sources close to the King stressed his lifelong efforts to encourage inter-faith and community dialogue, peace and understanding, both nationally and internationally.
He is supported by Prince William, 41, who visited the Holy Land in 2018, and wife Kate.
A spokesman for the Prince and Princess of Wales said the couple were “profoundly distressed by the devastating events that have unfolded in the past days” and “the horrors inflicted by Hamas’s terrorist attack upon Israel are appalling – they utterly condemn them”.
The spokesman added: “Their Royal Highnesses hold all the victims, their families and their friends in their hearts and minds. Those the Prince met in 2018 overwhelmingly shared a common hope – that of a better future. In the midst of such terrible suffering, the Prince and Princess continue to share that hope without reservation.”
Clouds of smoke fill the sky after devastating Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City (Image: Getty)
As Prince of Wales, Charles made his first official tour of Israel and the occupied territories in 2020.
He also visited the Jerusalem grave of his grandmother, Princess Alice, who offered refuge to Jews in Nazi-occupied Athens during the Second World War.
The royals’ support for Israel came as the BBC faced fury for telling its journalists not to use the word “terrorists”, citing its impartiality rules. Reporters were left to describe the killers as “militants”.
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis warned the BBC that purposefully avoiding describing Hamas as terrorists “is to wilfully mislead”.
He said: “I call upon broadcasters to urgently change the way they describe Hamas. Further, I call upon all decent people to have the courage to call out this terror for what it is.”
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC it was time to get a “moral compass” and pointed out Hamas was classed as a terror organisation in the UK.
He said: “I think it is verging on disgraceful, this idea that there is some sort of equivalence. It’s remarkable to go to the BBC website and still see them talking about gunmen and militants and not calling them terrorists. I don’t know what’s going on there, but I think that it’s time to get the moral compass out at the BBC.”
Senior Tory Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “There is no moral equivalence between a democratic state and people who murder babies and kidnap grandmothers. The BBC’s desire to put its bureaucratic rules ahead of decency makes it look ridiculous.”
Tory Party deputy chairman, Lee Anderson, said: “The BBC are a disgrace to broadcasting and an embarrassment to our country on this matter.”
And Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the BBC “needs to explain” why it is not calling the atrocities terrorism.
He said: “I said ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’, and to me that’s obviously what we are witnessing.”
BBC under fire over Hamas (Image: Getty)
Tory MP Sir Michael Fabricant said: “What is it with the BBC? The King, the Prime Minister, all decent people everywhere are calling them terrorists. Only the BBC imply they are not.”
Royal sources insisted Charles’s choice of words reflected British Government policy and was not intended as a rebuke to the BBC. The broadcaster’s editorial guidelines on terrorism say the word terrorist “can be a barrier rather than an aid to understanding”.
They say words such as “bomber”, “attacker”, “gunman”, “kidnapper”, “insurgent” and “militant” should be used instead.
BBC world affairs correspondent John Simpson defended the guidelines. He said calling someone a terrorist “means you’re taking sides and ceasing to treat the situation with due impartiality”.
However, former BBC North America editor, Jon Sopel, said the corporation’s current advice was “no longer fit for purpose”.
A BBC spokesman said: “We always take our use of language very seriously. Anyone watching or listening to our coverage will hear the word ‘terrorist’ used many times. We attribute it to those who are using it, for example, the UK Government.
“The BBC is an editorially independent broadcaster whose job is to explain precisely what is happening ‘on the ground’ so
our audiences can make their own judgment.”
Comment by Richard palmer – Royal Correspondent
The King’s decision to label Hamas as terrorists reflects the British Government’s position. As perhaps the world’s leading advocate for interfaith understanding, King Charles III is naturally someone who seeks to find a meeting of minds.
He has reached out to all sorts of groups down the years, speaking out about the evils of anti-Semitism but also sympathising with ordinary Palestinians. But the actions of those who slaughtered innocent people in Israel over the weekend have caused so much worldwide revulsion, there is little room for compromise. Palace officials have been cautious all week until now, insisting if the monarch was to say anything it would be on the advice of the Government.
The statement yesterday reflected that Government advice. Britain, like the US, the EU and several other countries, has long regarded Hamas as a terrorist organisation because of tactics such as kidnapping civilians and suicide bombings. Government ministers want him to use his soft power to talk to leaders in Israel, more moderate Palestinian representatives in the West Bank and others in the Muslim world in the hope of building a path to peace.
It began yesterday with the King speaking to President Isaac Herzog of Israel to express his condolences and to King Abdullah of Jordan, a key promoter of peace and dialogue whose country borders the occupied West Bank and houses a large number of Palestinians.
Abdullah, whose son’s wedding was attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales in June, is custodian of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. Expect more calls or engagements with different faith groups as this crisis dominates the agenda.
