UK welcomes hostage swap deal between Israel, Hamas

By Mehmet Solmaz

BIRMINGHAM, UK (AA) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the leader of the main opposition Labour Party have both welcomed a hostage swap deal reached between Israel and Hamas.

Speaking at the House of Commons on Wednesday, Sunak said: “We welcome the agreement reached overnight for a humanitarian pause in Gaza. This is something that we have consistently pushed for, and is a crucial step towards ending the nightmare for families of those taken hostage in Hamas' terror attack and also addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

Labour leader Keir Starmer also welcomed the deal, and called on Hamas to release all hostages.

“This humanitarian pause must be used to get the hostages out safely to tackle the urgent and unacceptable humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and to make progress to a full cessation of hostilities. In recent years, the international community has treated the two-state solution as a slogan rather than a serious strategy. And that must now change.”

In another parliamentary speech last week, Sunak said it is “extremely naive and simplistic way to look at the problem” in a response to a cease-fire call at the parliament.

He then went on saying that a new political horizon should be created for peace.

“We must unite around the only answer that can come close to creating peace in those troubled lands. The only answer that can acknowledge the history and hurt of both peoples. The only answer that can allow a new future to be born, and that is a two-state solution.”

He said the UK has argued for this solution for decades, “but now we must help make it a reality.”