ADDS MORE REMARKS BY BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY, ADDS FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER'S STATEMENTS, EDITS THROUGHOUT; REVISES HEADLINES
By Burak Bir and Nur Asena Erturk
LONDON / The British foreign secretary said Friday he is pleased that the first day of Gaza cease-fire talks in Doha has gone well, expressing hope that the parties may be "on the cusp of a deal."
Speaking at a news conference in Jerusalem, David Lammy stressed that the time for a deal in Gaza is "now."
"I am pleased that the reports out of Qatar suggest that the first day of hostage talks has gone well, and it has been important to listen to ministers here in Israel, and hear too from them that they hope that we are on the cusp of a deal," he noted.
Decrying how so many people have been killed across the region since last Oct. 7, Lammy said it is time for a deal for those hostages to be released, for aid to get in, and for the fighting to stop.
“The scenes overnight of the burning and the torching of buildings, of the Molotov cocktails thrown at cars ... and chasing of people from their homes is abhorrent, and I condemn it in the strongest of terms,” Lammy told reporters, speaking of violence by illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
He said he raised the issue a few weeks ago, when he was in the West Bank, that "both the violence and the expansion (of settlements) that we have seen over recent times is unacceptable."
"It breaches international norms and, of course, the domestic legal norms here in Israel," Lammy added.
-Spike in attacks by illegal Israeli settlers
On Thursday evening, illegal Israeli settlers killed a Palestinian citizen, seriously injured another, and set fire to four homes and six vehicles owned by Palestinians during an incursion into the village of Jit in the West Bank, according to local media reports.
Witnesses told Anadolu that the Israeli army provided protection to the settlers during their raid on the village.
Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have spiked since last October, according to Palestinian sources. At least 18 Palestinians have been killed and 785 injured in those attacks.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, for his part, said the main objective of their work is to achieve a cease-fire and avoid a regional escalation.
“We work for a cease-fire. David and I gave clear messages to all the delegations that take part in the talks. We are in a crucial moment,” he said.
He said he hopes diplomacy will lead to peace, adding: “We do not take part in the discussions but we can influence them, and this is the aim of our visit…”
Sejourne also pushed back on the settler violence in the West Bank.
“Any act that would destabilize a negotiation process, the talks, and the conclusion of a deal mainly on a cease-fire, is unacceptable,” he said, mentioning how the European Union and France passed sanctions on violent Israeli settlers.
Crucial cease-fire negotiations are underway in Doha, Qatar to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas. Hamas has refused to participate in the latest talks, demanding that Tel Aviv adhere to agreements made in July, which were initially accepted by Hamas and supported by US President Joe Biden, according to Israeli media.
Despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation for its continued offensive in Gaza, which has been ongoing since October following an attack by Hamas. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict.
Over 10 months into the Israeli war, Gaza remains devastated, with severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine. Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered an immediate halt to its military operations in Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.