Foreign Secretary calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

David Lammy official portrait

Source: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Mr David Lammy is visiting Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories today, Sunday, 14 July, on his first trip to the Middle East since becoming Foreign Secretary.

A government statement said he will "focus on the UK's diplomatic role in helping to bring the conflict in Gaza to an end and making progress towards long-term peace and security in the Middle East" and "raise the urgent need for a ceasefire agreed by both sides, which includes the release of all hostages and a rapid increase of aid into Gaza."

The statement said Lammy "will also announce that the UK will provide another £5.5m this year to UK-Med to fund their life-saving work in Gaza. UK-Med is a frontline medical aid charity who send experienced humanitarian medics, including those working in the NHS, to crisis-hit regions to deliver life and limb-saving health care. This funding will be used to support the ongoing work of their field hospitals and the emergency department at Nasser Hospital. It will allow medics, including those from the UK, to continue carrying out vital work to treat thousands more patients suffering from acute respiratory illnesses, infections, and explosive fragmentation trauma cases."

Lammy said: "The death and destruction in Gaza is intolerable. This war must end now, with an immediate ceasefire, complied with by both sides. The fighting has got to stop, the hostages still cruelly detained by Hamas terrorists need to be released immediately and aid must be allowed in to reach the people of Gaza without restrictions.

"I am meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to stress the UK's ambition and commitment to play its full diplomatic role in securing a ceasefire deal and creating the space for a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution. The world needs a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.

"Central to this is to see an end to expanding illegal Israeli settlements and rising settler violence in the West Bank. Here, in what should be a crucial part of a Palestinian state, alongside Gaza and East Jerusalem, we need to see a reformed and empowered Palestinian Authority."

On Sunday, Lammy met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah. He will meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday.

During his visit, Lammy will also meet with families of hostages currently being held in Gaza who have ties to the UK.