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LONDON — Prince William said fighting in Gaza must stop “as soon as possible,” marking a rare intervention on a hot-button global issue from a member of the British royal family.
In a statement issued Monday, the heir to the throne said he was “deeply concerned about the terrible human cost of the conflict in the Middle East.”
“I, like so many others, want to see an end to the fighting as soon as possible,” Tuesday’s statement from the eldest son of King Charles III reads. “There is a desperate need for increased humanitarian support to Gaza. It’s critical that aid gets in and hostages are released.”
The statement comes as William — whose father is undergoing treatment for cancer — conducts the first of two visits which his office, Kensington Palace, said was aimed a better understanding the “human impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.”
On Tuesday, William met aid workers involved in the humanitarian relief effort in the region, which has been hit by renewed conflict since Hamas’ October 7 assault on Israel. He is set to visit a synagogue next week to discuss a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents in the U.K.
“Sometimes it is only when faced with the sheer scale of human suffering that the importance of permanent peace is brought home,” William’s statement added.
