Sir Keir Starmer has again urged a ceasefire in the Middle East in a telephone call with Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday.

The conversation came on the day a drone was launched at Mr Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea, on the Israeli coast, in an apparent assassination attempt.

Officers from the Israeli Home Front Command military unit walk on a road near where Israel’s government says a drone launched toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s house in Caesarea, Israel, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024
A drone was launched at Benjamin Netanyahu’s house on the Israeli coast on Saturday in an apparent assassination attempt (Ariel Schalit/AP)

The Prime Minister expressed alarm at the news, a Downing Street spokesperson said, before discussing the wider situation in the Middle East following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Wednesday.

The spokesperson said Sir Keir described Mr Sinwar as “a brutal terrorist” who left the world “a better place without him”.

They added: “He also discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu the opportunity presented by Sinwar’s death to halt the fighting and get the hostages out. The Prime Minister also stressed the importance of getting much more aid into Gaza.

“Finally, the leaders also discussed Lebanon and the importance of making progress on a political solution.”

The phone call follows comments made by Sir Keir in Berlin on Friday urging the international community to “make the most of” the “opportunity” presented by Mr Sinwar’s death to secure a ceasefire.

But he also warned the world would not tolerate “any more excuses” for not allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, where more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive.

Sir Keir Starmer making a speech
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urged the international community to secure a ceasefire in Gaza (John Macdougall/PA)

The United States has also expressed concern about the amount of aid entering Gaza, warning in a letter to the Israeli government that it could suspend military funding for Tel Aviv if the humanitarian situation continued to deteriorate.

So far, both Israel and Hamas have signalled an unwillingness to call a ceasefire in the wake of Mr Sinwar’s death, while Hezbollah continues to carry out rocket attacks on northern Israel.

Mr Netanyahu said the attack on his home, which he blamed on Hezbollah, had been a “grave mistake”.

He said: “This will not deter me or the State of Israel from continuing our just war against our enemies in order to secure our future.”

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has also vowed that Hamas will fight on. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran, which carried out its own attack on Israel with ballistic missiles earlier this month.