Israel declares ‘complete siege’ against Gaza as ‘only the beginning’ of retaliation

First minister Humza Yousaf’s in-laws are trapped in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “this is only the beginning” of retaliation against Hamas for terror attacks at the weekend, as a “complete siege” was declared to cut off electricity, food, water and fuel to the Gaza Strip.

Ten British citizens are missing or believed dead since the weekend, including Bernard Cowan, 57, from Newton Mearns, Glasgow, whose family said he was “murdered” in the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Saturday.

More than 700 people are thought to have died in the initial assault, as well as 500 Palestinians in a major counter attack on Gaza. Others have been taken hostage and transported to the territory.

Palestinians search for survivors after an Israeli airstrike on buildings in the refugee camp of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

First Minister Humza Yousaf revealed his wife’s parents are trapped in Gaza after travelling there from Dundee last week to visit family.

Mr Yousaf, whose wife, Nadia El-Nakla, is of Palestinian descent, said the couple were “sick with worry” about her parents and said they did not know if they would “make it through the night”.

As aid organisations warned of a “humanitarian emergency on an unimaginable scale” an emergency Cobra meeting of the UK government was called.

Afterwards Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Hamas terrorists were “shielding themselves among the Palestinian people”.

Israeli security forces inspect a car, damaged in a rocket attack from Gaza in Har Adar, a settlement northwest of Jerusalem, high in the hills close to the Green Line that separates the occupied West Bank from Israel. Photo: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile Mr Netanyahu told local and regional council heads in the south of Israel that the country’s response “will change the Middle East”, adding that “what Hamas will experience will be difficult and terrible”.

He said: “This is only the beginning...we are all with you and we will defeat them with force, enormous force.”

Nathanel Young, who was serving with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), is the only British citizen confirmed to have died.

Photographer Dan Darlington is believed to be among the dead, after attending the music festival on the border with Gaza which was targeted by Hamas militants.

A total of 260 people were killed at the festival, while others were abducted.

Around 50,000 to 60,000 British nationals are believed to be in either Israel or Gaza, the government estimates, amid concerns for their safety.

Family and friends described Mr Cowan, who was said to be a Celtic fan, as the “kindest, most generous person”.

His brother, Colin Cowan, wrote on Facebook: "Yesterday my brother was murdered by the terrorist Hamas.

"He was the kindest, most generous person you would ever meet, and would go out of his way to help others. We are all heartbroken."

A statement from his family said Mr Cowan would be a “huge loss” to family and friends, as well as the Jewish community in Glasgow.

It added: "We are grieving the loss of our son and brother, Bernard Cowan, who was horrifically murdered on Saturday during the surprise terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas.”

Peter Jackson, professor of Global Security at Glasgow University, warned the conflict between Israel and Hamas could "transform diplomacy and the strategic situation in the Middle East" and said it created the potential for “the road towards a Middle Eastern settlement" to be destroyed.

He said: “I think we're going to be with a real period of sustained violence for weeks to come. It may in the longer term, threaten Netanyahu’s government, because this is quite a significant intelligence failure of the Israeli intelligence service.

“In the meantime, there's going to be an awful lot of bloodshed and I fear that Israeli citizens and Palestinians in Gaza and possibly in the occupied West Bank, will pay the price. And it's going to be pretty horrific.”

He added: “I don't remember ever feeling this pessimistic about peace in the Middle East as I do now.”

Aid organisations have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe as Israel continues its siege on Gaza.

Nadim Zaghloul, Palestine country director for ActionAid, said: “The situation inside Gaza is dire as homes and civilians remain the indiscriminate targets of continuous bombing. Our colleagues have fled their homes and are currently using hospitals as shelters. Air raids continue throughout the day and night and our partners are telling us that entire families have lost their lives.”

He added: “We’re only a few days into the crisis, but the unprecedented scale of hostilities threatens a humanitarian emergency on an unimaginable scale, even for a region all too familiar with disaster. With a ‘total blockade’ announced today in Gaza, over two million people will be plunged even further into crisis and completely cut off from food, electricity and fuel.”

On Sunday, strikes flattened much of the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, which Israel said Hamas was using as a staging ground.

Meanwhile, yesterday, the Israeli military blared messages to residents to evacuate Rimal, a residential and commercial district of central Gaza City. As Israel hit more than 1,000 targets in the coastal territory, Palestinian militants continued firing barrages of rockets, setting off air raid sirens in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

A major question remains whether the country will launch a ground assault into Gaza, a move that in the past has brought intensified casualties.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who spoke to Mr Netanyahu on Sunday, has promised to offer Israel any support it needs as it hits back at the Palestinian militants – however, said the UK is not planning to redeploy military assets to the Middle East.

On Sunday, the US dispatched an aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean to be ready to assist Israel, and said it will send additional military aid.

"We already have a very long-standing relationship with Israel, we're one of their strongest allies," Mr Sunak said.

"We've provided in the past the kinds of equipment that they've used to defend themselves over the past couple of days. And as I said to the prime minister, we will continue to provide - whether that's diplomatic, intelligence or security - support, as they need."

Downing Street said the UK supports Israel taking "proportionate action” in response to the attack by Hamas, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

Mr Cleverly, asked by broadcasters in Westminster whether Israel’s siege on the Gaza strip met that definition, said: “Israel has a right to defend itself against attack. The UK completely supports Israel’s right to defend itself proportionately.

"The truth of the matter is that this was a terrorist attack, perpetrated by Hamas, who are embedded in Gaza, shielding themselves among the Palestinian people in Gaza. And we will continue to support Israel as it seeks to defend itself against this brutal terrorist attack initiated by Hamas.”

There are no plans for a UK-facilitated evacuation of British citizens from Israel, with those in need of support advised to contact the Foreign Office.

he European Union is suspending "all payments immediately" to the Palestinians, the EU Commission announced on Monday.

Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said the bloc was making the move because of what he called the "scale of terror and brutality" of Hamas's attacks against Israel.

The surprise announcement came just hours after EU officials stressed that no EU money whatsoever was going to Hamas in the first place and that contacts had been frozen for 16 years.

The EU considers Hamas a terror group.