“I wanted to come here myself to see the horrific nature of the attacks that you suffered,” David Cameron said.

British new Foreign Secretary David Cameron visited Kibbutz Be’eri on Thursday, one of the worst-hit Israeli communities during the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre.

It is Cameron’s first visit since his appointment.

“I wanted to come here myself to see the horrific nature of the attacks that you suffered,” the British former Prime Mnister told Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who accompanied him on his visit.

” I visited Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the communities affected by the appalling terror attack Israel suffered on 7 October. I wanted to come here to see it for myself; I have heard and seen things I will never forget. Today is also a day where we hope to see progress on the humanitarian pause. This is a crucial opportunity to get hostages out and aid in to Gaza, to help Palestinian civilians who are facing a growing humanitarian crisis,” he wrote on X.

Cameron met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later in the day. Netanyahu assured Cameron that following the expected ceasefire, which Israel approved on Wednesday to free some of the approximately 240 hostages held by Hamas, Israel would return to fighting the terrorist group.

“We will continue with the goals of the war and to destroy Hamas, because Hamas has already promised that they will do the same thing invade and murder Israeli civilians again and again and again,” Netanyahu told Cameron.

“This is a sect that advocates genocide. There is no hope for peace between Israel and the Palestinians and between Israel and the Arab countries if we do not eradicate this murderous movement, which threatens the future of all of us,” he added.

Cameron thanked Netanyahu for taking the time to meet with him and expressed his support for a pause in the fighting in order to free hostages and get more aid to Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The British Prime Minister also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog who said: “Thank you Foreign Secretary for being with us in the first few days of assuming your new position. We welcome you wholeheartedly. You are a great friend of Israel for many years.”

He added, ”At these very critical moments, we are waiting to hear the whereabouts of women and children that were hijacked and taken hostage by Hamas. We are waiting to see some of them return in the first phase of what is seen as a possible deal between Israel and Qatar, the United States and Hamas. So that some of the humanitarian dilemmas that we are faced with when it comes to our hostages, at least will be resolved when we see a three-year-old child walking alone because she has no parents back home. But the story is not over. We are at war. We are at war against one of the worst terrorist organizations in history, a war machine that was built underneath and above, using all civilian resources, a terrible war machine with a Jihadist, Islamic, ISIS type ideology that must be eradicated. And I always say if it wasn’t for Israel, then Europe would be next. I think that’s the main challenge of what the world is saying. And finally, there is the humanitarian supply and the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which we are very much aware of, which we are taking major steps in order to alleviate, to increase the support and the assistance that goes to the citizens of Gaza. Rest assured that we are committed to whatever is necessary, according to the basic rules of international humanitarian law.”

Cameron told Herzog: “You have our support. We stand with the people of Israel at this difficult time. Today is obviously a day where we hope for this humanitarian pause. I hope that all those that are responsible for negotiating can carry it out and stick to it because it is an opportunity to get hostages out and that will end suffering for some families. Of course, all hostages must come out because hostage taking is immoral, and wrong and a terrorist tactic. ”