David Lammy has said the “time is now” for a Gaza ceasefire during a visit to Israel – as he pushes for a truce that would also ease hostilities across the Middle East that have left the region on the brink of a wider war.
The foreign secretary’s visit, alongside French counterpart Stephane Sejourne, piles on the pressure for a deal as talks continue in Doha to stop the fighting between Israel and Hamas, and secure the release of Israeli hostages still held inside Gaza.
Those talks, convened by Qatar, Egypt and the US, are aimed at breaking weeks of diplomatic deadlock after the number killed in Gaza this week passed 40,000. The talks came hours after Israeli settlers launched an attack on a village near Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, killing at least one Palestinian whose funeral drew a large crowd of mourners.
Mr Lammy’s trip included the West Bank where, in Ramallah, he met Palestinian prime minister Mohamed Mustafa. In Jerusalem, he called for hostages to be returned, aid to be allowed into Gaza “in the quantities that are necessary”, and for the fighting to stop.
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