“We can now confirm that at least nine British nationals were tragically killed,” the prime minister’s spokesperson told reporters on Thursday.
“A further seven British nationals are missing, some of whom are feared to be among the dead or kidnapped.”
Among the British nationals killed so far are a teenager, a soldier, people visiting Israel on holiday and a music festival security guard.
In other developments in the Israel-Hamas war:
• Humanitarian aid being readied for opening of Rafah crossing from Egypt to Gaza • World Health Organisation says five aid lorries are ‘loaded and ready to go’ • Israel’s defence minister tells troops: ‘You will soon see Gaza from inside’ • Air raid sirens heard on Israel’s border with Lebanon
Yahel Sharabi, 13, and her mother, Lianne, were two of the British nationals killed during Hamas‘s attack.
She disappeared from Be’eri kibbutz after it was raided and was confirmed to be dead on 17 October. Lianne was also killed in the attack on the kibbutz.
Yahel’s sister Noiya Sharabi, 16, and their father, Eli Sharabi, were also kidnapped and are still missing.
Image: Clockwise from top left: Jake Marlowe, Yahel Sharabi, Nathanel Young, Danny Darlington, Bernard Cowan, Lianne Sharabi
Photographer Danny Darlington, who was originally from the UK but was living in Germany and on a visit to Israel, was killed in Nir Oz kibbutz.
Other British nationals killed include 20-year-old Nathanel Young, who was serving in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), festival security guard Jake Marlowe, 26, and Bernard Cowan, who was originally from Glasgow.
Sunak visits Israel
Rishi Sunak made a visit to Israel on Thursday, where he held talks with the country’s prime minister and president.
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‘The UK stands with you’ – Rishi Sunak
Speaking as he arrived at an airport near Tel Aviv, he said: “I’m here to express my solidarity with the Israeli people.
“You have suffered an unspeakable, horrific act of terrorism and I want you to know that the United Kingdom, and I, stand with you.”
Mr Sunak met Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Image: Rishi Sunak meets Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. Pic: No 10 Downing Street
After their meeting, Mr Netanyahu thanked Mr Sunak for his support, while Mr Sunak said he was “proud” to stand with Israel in its “darkest hour”.
He also welcomed the opening of a humanitarian corridor into Gaza.
Gaza under siege
Gaza is under siege and has been bombarded with airstrikes after Hamas militants launched the surprise attack on 7 October.
Hamas fighters captured 203 hostages and brought them back to Gaza as part of the attack. Israel said 1,400 of its citizens were killed in the weekend raid.
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Israeli airstrike hits Gaza mosque
The Gaza health ministry said at least 3,785 people have been killed in Gaza since the latest war began, the majority of them women, children and older adults. Nearly 12,500 others have been injured.
Mr Sunak’s visit comes following the explosion at the al Ahli hospital in Gaza City, where hundreds of Palestinians had taken refuge following the outbreak of the conflict.
Hamas officials claimed the hospital blast killed hundreds of people and was caused by an Israeli airstrike – but the Israeli military blamed a misfiring rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group and released imagery and communications intercepts to support their case.
US President Joe Biden visited the region this week. He also spoke to Mr Netanyahu.
Mr Biden had been set to meet Palestinian, Jordanian and Egyptian leaders, but the summit was scrapped following the explosion at the hospital.
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Image: Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Image: Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.