Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog will visit Britain next week and is expected to meet with British government ministers next Thursday, the "Guardian" newspaper reported, citing government officials in London.
The visit of a high-ranking Israeli leader may cause outrage among some circles in this country at a time when the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is critical and Israel continues with a large-scale military offensive, DPA reports.
The agency notes that this comes after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the "terrible situation" in the Gaza Strip this week, as well as before Britain recognizes a Palestinian state later this month.
10 Downing Street declined to comment when asked about the Israeli president's trip, saying it would arrange all visits "in the usual way."
If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Britain, local British courts could decide to execute an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
Herzog's role as Israeli president is largely ceremonial. He is from a different political party than Netanyahu's and has not always been on the same page with the Israeli prime minister, although he largely supports the military action in the Gaza Strip, DPA notes.
The UN Children's Fund - UNICEF, warned that "childhood cannot survive" in Gaza City amid Israel's planned takeover of the city as part of its war with the Palestinian Islamist movement "Hamas", DPA reported.
"The world is sounding the alarm about what an intensified military offensive in Gaza City could lead to - a catastrophe for the almost 1 million people who remain there," UNICEF spokeswoman Tess Ingram said at a briefing yesterday.
The Israeli army is currently preparing to take over Gaza City, the largest city in the besieged Palestinian territory. Thousands of reservists were mobilized on Tuesday.
"This unthinkable is not coming - it is already here. The escalation is underway," Ingram said, detailing the situation she has faced in the Gaza Strip over the past nine days.
"Malnutrition and hunger are weakening children's bodies, while displacement deprives them of shelter and care, and bombing threatens their every movement. This is what hunger looks like in a war zone, and it was everywhere I looked in Gaza City," said the UNICEF spokeswoman.
Ingram also said that the situation in the Palestinian territory "is not accidental". In her words, "it is a direct consequence of decisions that have turned Gaza City, and indeed the entire enclave, into a place where people's lives are under attack from all sides, every day".
"The lives of Palestinians here are being destroyed slowly but surely", Ingram added, calling on Israel to "review its rules of engagement to ensure the protection of children" and allow humanitarian aid access to the Palestinian enclave, also calling on "Hamas" to release all hostages.
Israel has largely reduced the Gaza Strip to rubble in its fight against the Islamist movement "Hamas" on Palestinian territory, DPA notes.