UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament Israel’s barrage of missiles that killed hundreds of Palestinians — the majority women and children — is “an appalling loss of life and we mourn the loss of every civilian”, Al Jazeera reports.

A UN compound in Gaza was hit in the attacks and he confirmed “a British national was amongst the wounded”.

“Gaza has been the most dangerous place in the world to be an aid worker,” Lamy noted. “I share the outrage of UN Secretary-General Guterres at this incident.

“For weeks now, supplies of basic goods and electricity have been blocked, leaving over half a million civilians once again cut off from clean drinking water and sparking a 200 per cent surge in the price of some basic foodstuffs — a boon to those criminals who use violence to control supplies.”