British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will travel to Egypt on Friday, part of a trip to the Middle East where he wants to press his message that there should be no escalation of violence in the region as Israel continues to pound Gaza after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Oct 7.

According to Reuters, his office said that in the talks in Egypt, Sunak will stress “the imperative of avoiding regional escalation and preventing the further unnecessary loss of civilian life”.

Sunak was the latest Western leader to visit Jerusalem on Thursday to show support for Israel and to try to negotiate a way to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas and ease the provision of humanitarian aid to people in Gaza.

Later on Thursday, he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, where he encouraged the leader to use Saudi leadership in the region to support stability, underlining the fear that the Hamas attack and Israel’s response could ignite regional unrest.