During his first visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories as foreign secretary, David Lammy called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Holding talks with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority PM Mohammad Mustafa, Lammy urged the release of all hostages held in Gaza and an increase in the flow of aid to the territory. Lammy expressed frustration over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, describing it as “appalling” and called for the UK to fund UK-Med’s work in the territory with an additional £5.5m.
Lammy emphasized the importance of the war being conducted according to international humanitarian law and pledged to press Israeli leaders on the matter in the coming days. However, Lammy faced a difficult task as the Labour Party has recently faced criticism from some Muslim voters who consider their response to the conflict as insufficiently critical of Israel. The government now faces critical decisions on key issues, including whether to limit or stop weapons sales to Israel over the loss of civilian life.
Lammy promised to examine the assessment and the legal considerations, then report to Parliament as soon as possible. Meanwhile, he ensured that there would be a statement about the future of UK funding to the UN’s main agency providing aid in Gaza, UNRWA, in the coming days. Currently, the UK is one of only a few out of more than a dozen countries that suspended funding to the agency in January. In addition, the Labour Party has pledged to recognize the Palestinian state, although it has yet to specify when it will do so.
Israel launched its operation in Gaza after the Hamas attack in October, which led to around 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage. Mr Netanyahu has said that Israel will continue its war until all hostages are released, and Hamas has been destroyed. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, at least 38,584 people have been killed in Gaza during Israel’s offensive. This comes as a UN-backed assessment discovered aa “high risk” of famine in the territory, with approximately 500,000 individuals facing “catastrophic levels” of hunger. At least 141 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Saturday, said the ministry, and Israel stated that one of the attacks hit a humanitarian zone as it was targeting a senior Hamas leader
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