UK foreign secretary to visit Israel, Palestine, call for cease-fire

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) – British Foreign Secretary David Lammy will visit Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories on Sunday, marking his first visit to the Middle East since taking the post earlier this month.

“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,” said the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in a written statement.

“He will 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 added.

Lammy is expected to announce that the UK will allocate an additional £5.5 million ($7.5 million) this year to UK-Med to support their life-saving operations in Gaza.

Calling the death and destruction in Gaza “intolerable,” Lammy urged an end to the war and an urgent cease-fire obeyed by both sides.

He also urged humanitarian aid to be allowed to reach the people in 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,” he added.

“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,” he added.

- Meeting with Palestine’s premier, foreign minister

During his visit to Israel, Lammy will engage in high-level discussions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, stressing the importance of ending the Gaza conflict and securing the release of hostages.

In addition, he plans to meet with families from the UK who have been affected by Hamas and with relatives who were either killed or taken captive.

“In meetings with President (Mahmoud) Abbas and Prime Minister (Mohammad) Mustafa, he will highlight his commitment to recognizing a Palestinian state as an undeniable right of the Palestinian people, and as a contribution to a renewed peace process which results in a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.

“He will also call out settlements in the West Bank as illegal and harmful to a two-state solution on visit to a Palestinian community,” the statement said.

In addition, Lammy spoke with a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official about developments in Palestine.

Hussein al-Sheikh, the PLO’s Executive Committee secretary general, urged Lammy to work to end attacks on the Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, and to ensure humanitarian aid reaches the people of Gaza, official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Sheikh called for the restoration of Palestinian authority in Gaza based on a comprehensive solution that ends the occupation in accordance with international legitimacy.

He also called on the new UK government to recognize the state of Palestine.​​​​​​​