Rishi Sunak is chairing an emergency Cobra meeting at No 10 amid fears that the conflict between Hamas and Israel could have increased the terror threat in Britain.
The PM has gathered police and national security officials and home secretary Suella Braverman to discuss the current risk of domestic terrorism, Whitehall sources said.
It comes as Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley warned that terrorism is being “accelerated” by events in the Middle East – as he raised concerns about “state threats from Iran”.
“This is a particularly challenging time – an overlay of threats. When you’ve got state threats from Iran, you’ve got terrorism being accelerated by the events, and hate crime in communities,” he told Sky News.
Education minister Robert Halfon stressed before the meeting that the government has to ensure British citizens are “safe and secure from the threat of terrorism” – but decline to say whether the terror threat level might be raised.
It currently stands at “substantial” in England, Wales and Scotland, meaning an attack is likely. It has been at that level since February last year when it was lowered from “severe”, meaning an attack is highly likely.
Meanwhile, foreign secretary James Cleverly is in Abu Dhabi for talks on getting humanitarian aid into Gaza and allowing civilians – including British nationals – to leave.
Education minister Robert Halfon said the reported prevention of 200 British citizens leaving Gaza by Hamas is “a form of hostage taking”.
Asked on Sky News about reports that around 200 British nationals in Gaza are being prevented from leaving by Hamas, he said: “If people are being kept in a place against their will, are not allowed to travel out, then that is a form of hostage taking.”
Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak gathering security officials
In the UK, Mr Halfon told LBC it is a “fearful time” for British Jews as tensions have risen since Hamas’s wave of bloodshed launched on Israel on October 7. He said there are “there are ever-increasing incidents of antisemitism on campus”.
People chanting “from the river to the sea” at pro-Palestine rallies is “horrific” and “scary”, the education minister said. “It is an uncomfortable place for Jewish people living in this country,” he told Sky News.
Sir Mark has said his officers will be “ruthless” in policing and enforcing the law at protests – but said there could only be prosecutions when the law is broken, calling for “sharper” tools to deal with extremism.
It comes as the Sunak government reviews the definition of extremism. Separately, Ms Braverman is reportedly examining potential changes to terrorism legislation change some definitions in existing laws.
Around 200 UK nationals in Gaza have contacted the Foreign Office as hopes are pinned on getting the Rafah crossing with Egypt opened to allow their release.
Scottish first minister and SNP leader Humza Yousaf said his in-laws have run out of drinking water after getting trapped in Gaza while visiting family.
The UK government is only calling for a pause in the fighting rather than the ceasefire the UN and others are pushing for.
Mr Sunak has argued that Tel Aviv has a right to defend itself as it seeks to rescue the more than 239 hostages seized by Hamas because its fighters killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.
Thirty-three lorries entered Gaza on Sunday in the largest aid convoy since the attack provoked Israel’s siege, cutting off food, water, fuel and medicines to combatants as well as civilians.
Israeli troops and tanks pushed deeper into northern and central Gaza on Monday, as Tel Aviv expanded its ground offensive after pounding the territory with air strikes. The death toll among Palestinians has passed 8,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
