Newly installed British Foreign Minister David Lammy called for an immediate ceasefire and hostage deal along with a “pathway towards a two-state solution” during meetings he held Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa.
“Our message is clear,” he said in a post on X in which he included a photograph of himself shaking hands with Netanyahu and then again shaking hands with Mustafa in Ramallah.
Today I met with Israeli PM @netanyahu, and Palestinian Authority PM Mustafa.Our message is clear: we need an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, the protection of civilians, unfettered access to aid in Gaza, and a pathway towards a two-state solution. pic.twitter.com/kmmIBsHgov
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) July 14, 2024
In a statement issued upon his arrival, he said, “The death and destruction in Gaza is intolerable. The war must end now with an immediate ceasefire, complied with by both sides.”
“The fighting has got to stop. The hostages still cruelly detained by Hamas terrorists need to be released immediately and aid must be allowed in to reach the people of Gaza without restrictions,” he said.
“I am meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to stress the United Kingdom’s ambition and commitment to play this full diplomatic role in securing a ceasefire deal and creating the space for a credible and irreversible pathway toward a two-state solution.”
Desires for a two-state solution
He also spoke about the Labour government’s opposition to Israeli West Bank settlement activity and its commitment to a reformed Palestinian Authority.
Central to a two-state resolution to the conflict, he said, is 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 reform and empowered Palestinian Authority,” he said.
Lammy also reiterated that his party believes that unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood should take place at a critical point in a two-state peace process, rather than at its conclusion.