British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak avoided calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, despite half a year having passed since the war.

This came in a statement on Sunday, marking the 6-month anniversary of the Hamas attacks on October 7, which Sunak described as “the most horrific attack in the history of Israel.”

Sunak said that "the Israelis' wounds have not healed in the six months since October 7" and that deaths in Gaza have reached "horrific" levels, but he did not call for a ceasefire.

On October 7, Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza launched a military operation called “Al-Aqsa Flood,” in response to “the continuing attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against the Palestinian people, their property, and their sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.”

Israel says that Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis in the attack and wounded 5,431. It also captured about 239 Israelis, including high-ranking military personnel, and exchanged some of them during a week-long truce for dozens of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Sunak noted that “six months later, the Israelis’ wounds have still not healed,” and there are still Israeli prisoners.

He added that civilian casualties in Gaza had worsened as "hunger, despair and loss of life on a horrific scale" continued.

Sunak reiterated his support for “Israel’s right to self-defense,” and added, “But the entire United Kingdom is shocked by the bloodbath and we are horrified by the killing of the brave British heroes who transported food to those in need.”

On Monday, the Israeli army targeted the “International Kitchen” convoy in the city of Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, killing 7 foreigners holding the nationalities of Australia, Poland, Britain, the United States, and Canada, in addition to Palestine.

Sunak urged a “humanitarian truce” leading to a “sustainable ceasefire” to alleviate the suffering of children in Gaza, considering that “this is the fastest way to ensure the release of prisoners, the arrival of aid, an end to clashes, and an end to deaths.”

Sunak has been opposing the ceasefire since October 7 under the pretext that Hamas could attack Israel again. Instead, he calls for a humanitarian truce and believes that the ceasefire can only take place in an environment in which Hamas is eliminated.