UK accused of 'whitewash' after Chevening scholar feared killed in Gaza

A Palestinian doctor who graduated from a prestigious UK Foreign Office scholarship scheme is feared to have been killed along with most of his family in an Israeli air strike in Gaza, colleagues say.

Dr Maisara Al Rayyes, 30, was photographed with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly after meeting him alongside other graduates of the programme two months ago.

He was trapped under the rubble of a six-storey apartment building which was razed to the ground in Gaza City on Sunday night.

The UK's handling of the case has triggered anger among some Foreign Office staff, the BBC understands, amid wider complaints over a failure to explicitly highlight the spiralling civilian death toll in Gaza.

It has also sparked a fierce backlash from some of the medic's former colleagues and scholarship members.

Dr Al Rayyes was a graduate of the Chevening Scholarship scheme, an elite programme run by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The scheme is seen as a pillar of British diplomatic prowess, funding places at UK universities for overseas applicants it describes as global "leaders and decision-makers" of the future. More than 15 Chevening graduates have gone on to become heads of state.

The story of Dr Al Rayyes, who won funding for a master's degree in health at King's College London, was embraced by the Foreign Office especially as he met his fiancée, another Chevening scholar, via the programme.

In September he was chosen among a select group of graduates to meet the Foreign Secretary in Jerusalem.