Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves Downing Street after a cabinet meeting, in London, Tuesday July 9, 2024

The new British foreign secretary called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza during a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Sunday, his second international trip since Labour’s resounding victory in elections earlier this month.

David Lammy said the ongoing war in Gaza is “intolerable” and stressed in meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leadership that Britain wants to assist with diplomatic efforts “securing a cease-fire deal and creating the space for a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution.”

Lammy met Sunday in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and in the West Bank city of Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He will meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday. During his visit, Lammy will also meet with families of hostages currently being held in Gaza who have ties to the U.K. He called for the release of all hostages and a dramatic increase in the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

Lammy demanded Israel halt settlement expansion in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, and said that the Palestinian Authority needs to be “reformed and empowered.”

Both Lammy’s Labour Party and the previous Conservative government initially avoided calling for an immediate cease-fire in the war, using phrases like “humanitarian pause.” But the language has got stronger. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Netanyahu last week there was a “clear and urgent need for a cease-fire.”

Labour’s stance on the Gaza war cost it votes in this month’s U.K. election. Although the party won in a landslide, pro-Palestinian independents defeated Labour candidates in several seats with large Muslim populations.

Lammy’s comments came the day after Israel said it had targeted Hamas’ shadowy military commander in a massive strike Saturday in the crowded southern Gaza Strip that killed at least 90 people, including children, according to local health officials.

Top Hamas officials said on Sunday that the negotiations for a possible cease-fire deal had not been halted because of the attack. Hamas also denied that Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, the target of the strike, was killed and said Israel’s “false claims are merely a cover-up for the scale of the horrific massacre.”

Deif and Hamas’ top official in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, are believed by Israel to be the chief architects of the Oct. 7 attack that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and kidnapped 250, triggering the Israel-Hamas war.

Since then, Israeli ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 38,400 people in Gaza and wounded more than 88,000, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

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David Lammy ‘closely considering’ resuming funding for UNRWA

David Lammy is “closely considering” resuming funding for the UN’s humanitarian body for Gaza, despite alleged links to Hamas.

Britain suspended financial aid for the United National Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) in January, following claims that its members had taken part in the Oct 7 atrocity, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 people taken hostage.

Israel has claimed that more than 1,400 of the organisation’s workers were members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, approximately 12 per cent of the agency’s workforce in Gaza.

A number of employees were subsequently sacked.

Even before the current war, which has devastated much of the enclave, UNRWA was crucial to maintaining basic services, including education, with most of its staff coming from Palestinian society.

However, the accusations of links to Hamas drew global criticism.

In April an independent review led by Catherine Colonna, the former French foreign minister, said the agency must improve its screening of staff for pro-Hamas sentiments.

The previous month the agency’s chief, Philippe Lazzarini, said it was not possible to weed out all staff members who have pro-Hamas sentiments.

Speaking at the UN on Friday, Barbara Woodward, the UK’s Permanent Representative to the UN, revealed that Mr Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, is “closely considering” resuming UK funding to UNRWA.

“Palestinians in Gaza are facing humanitarian catastrophe and the very real risk of famine,” she told the UNRWA Pledging Conference. “For months they have suffered unbearable hardship without the food and protection from harm that they need.”

She said the UK was committed to alleviating the suffering and delivering aid to civilians, adding: “We recognise that UNRWA is absolutely central to these efforts.

“It is playing a critically important role in getting aid to those who need it in Gaza and providing essential services, including healthcare and education, to Palestinian refugees across the region.”

Ms Woodward said Britain had been “appalled” by the allegations of UNRWA staff being involved in the Oct 7 massacre.

But she said the UK was committed to the aid agency.

“We are confident that UNRWA is taking robust action in response to Catherine Colonna’s independent review, to ensure it meets the highest standards of neutrality, transparency and accountability.”

Senior Conservatives, including likely leadership contender Suella Braverman, had publicly called for Lord Cameron, the previous foreign secretary, not to resume Britain’s support for the agency.

One unnamed Tory said the decision would be “morally bankrupt”.

Upon becoming Prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer called for a ceasefire that leads to a sustainable peace for both Israelis and Palestinians and the release of all hostages, as well as more humanitarian aid for Gaza.

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Thousands march to Jerusalem demanding hostage deal

Families and supporters of hostages held in Gaza carry Israeli flags and placards as they enter Jerusalem on the final day of a four day march from Tel Aviv demanding a deal for the release of hostages on Saturday. 

 Families of hostages held in Gaza were joined by thousands of protesters in a march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem trying to force Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a hostage deal.

The four-day march, which set out from Tel Aviv, was expected to reach Jerusalem by Saturday evening. Organizers planned to assemble in front of the prime minister's house, coinciding with other mass demonstrations throughout the country.

A large demonstration also was expected Saturday evening outside of the Israeli Defense Forces headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was kidnapped by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attacks was quoted by the Times of Israel saying, "we're seeing more and more reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to sabotage the deal [to release the hostages]. He adds demands that could cost Matan his life, he adds demands that could cost the lives of other hostages."

Amid the March, IDF officials said they targeted Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif and Khan Younis Brigade leader Rafe Salama in an airstrike on southern Gaza.

Gaza's Health Ministry said the strike also killed over 70 Palestinians and left hundreds injured.

The report gave hostage family members concern about how the attack would affect hostage negotiations.

"We're all for settling the score with the Hamas murders, but not at the cost of our loved ones's lives and our chances to get them home," Zangauker said, adding Netanyahu was jeopardizing hostage negotiations by targeting a Hamas leader.

Opposition party leader Yair Lapid, who joined hostage families in the march, condemned Netanyahu for the strike.

"We are marching to Jerusalem to make it clear that even if they killed Mohammed Deif, it doesn't mean they can kill the hostage deal. We need a deal now," Lapid said.

Hamas, meanwhile, denied that Deif and Salama were killed in the attack and said Israel's reports "are false and aimed at covering up its crimes."

Netanyahu later in a press conference on Saturday said there was "no certainty" Deif was killed in the strike, but defended the attack and rebuffed claims that he was hardening his demands in negotiations.

I don't add demands, and I don't take any demands away, but I also don't let Hamas add demands," he said.

"If we stand firm in our insistence on these principles, we will get a deal that releases our hostages and allows us to continue the war until victory."

Negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States are tense even after Hamas dropped its previous demand for a permanent cease-fire before a deal is even signed.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, has added demands such as an enforcement mechanism that would guarantee Hamas would not return to northern Gaza and for Israel to maintain control along the Gaza-Egypt border.

While both sides have agreed to a general framework, Hamas still expects a permanent cease-fire to be the ultimate goal, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel must be able to continue the war "until all the objectives of the war are achieved."

One hundred and sixteen Israeli hostages remain imprisoned by Hamas of the 250 kidnapped in the Oct. 7 attacks. The IDF confirmed 42 of the remaining hostages are dead.

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