Speaking as he arrived at the airport, Rishi Sunak 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.

"I am looking forward to my meetings later today with the prime minister and president. And I very much hope that they will be productive meetings."

Israel-Gaza latest: Protests spread around Middle East

Mr Sunak has met Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Netanyahu embraced Mr Sunak as the pair met, and Mr Sunak could be heard saying: "Hello my friend, very good to see you."

After their meeting, the pair held a brief news conference, in which Mr Netanyahu thanks Mr Sunak for his support.

Mr Netanyahu said the current situation will be "a long war", and Israel will "need" the UK's "continual support".

Mr Sunak said he welcomed the opening of a humanitarian corridor into Gaza.

He added that he knew Israel was "taking every precaution to avoid harming civilians - in contrast to the terrorists of Hamas".

Mr Sunak said he was "proud" to stand with Israel in its "darkest hour".

The prime minister later told broadcasters that it was important the conflict between Israel and Hamas does not escalate "regionally".

The UK leader is on a two-day trip to the region, and will meet with counterparts from across the Middle East, according to Downing Street, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is also in the region.

In their meeting, Mr Herzog and Mr Sunak "stressed the imperative need to avoid further escalation of violence", and this was echoed in the summit with Mr Netanyahu.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: "The prime minister met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel today.

"He expressed the deep condolences of the British people for the terrible loss of life that has occurred in Israel. He underscored the UK's firm belief in Israel's right to self-defence in accordance with international humanitarian law, as they work to end the threat of Hamas and secure the freedom of hundreds of Israeli hostages.

"The prime minister thanked Prime Minister Netanyahu for his support for the British nationals who have been taken by Hamas and both leaders agreed to work closely together to secure their freedom.

"The prime minister welcomed Prime Minister Netanyahu's announcement yesterday on opening up aid access to Gaza. He emphasised the importance of establishing sustained access to get more vital food, water, medicine and fuel into Gaza and to enable British nationals trapped there to leave.

"Both leaders underscored the need to prevent any regional escalation in the conflict and the importance of restoring peace and stability to the region."

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Mr Herzog thanked Mr Sunak for the visit afterwards, saying: "We are at the frontier of a certain class of civilisation. We are seeing an ISIS on our border, entering in our country.

"It is an empire of evil that we know is led by terror."

Mr Cleverly posted on social media that he was heading to Egpyt, Qatar, and Turkey, where his goals were: "Secure the release of British hostages. Stop the violence spreading to the region. Ensure emergency aid can get into Gaza."

The visits come following the explosion at the al Ahli hospital in Gaza City, where hundreds of Palestinians had taken refuge in the wake of Hamas's deadly surprise attack on 7 October.

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 group and released imagery and communications intercepts to support their case.

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US President Joe Biden also visited the region this week. He also spoke with Mr Netanyahu.

Mr Biden had been set to meet with Palestinian, Jordanian and Egyptian leaders, but the summit was scrapped following the explosion at the hospital.