Lord Cameron to make case for sustainable ceasefire during Middle East return

Making his second trip to the Middle East since being appointed Foreign Secretary last month, officials said the former prime minister is looking to progress efforts on securing the release of all hostages by Hamas, stepping up aid into Gaza and putting a stop to rockets being fired into Israel by Palestinian militants.

The Cabinet minister said that, without Israel’s security being guaranteed, there could be no lasting peace or two-state solution.

The Foreign Office said that, while in conversation with leaders from the two countries neighbouring Israel, he will reiterate the UK’s position that leaving Hamas in power in the Gaza Strip will be a “roadblock” to reaching a long-term political solution to the crisis.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in a call echoed by Lord Cameron, has recently started pushing for a “sustainable ceasefire” in a move that appears to underline the West’s hardening attitude towards Tel Aviv’s conduct of the war.

US President Joe Biden has warned that Israel is losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing”, with almost 20,000 Palestinians killed in the fighting, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

Ahead of his return to the Middle East, Lord Cameron said: “This week I am making my second visit to the region to press the case for getting aid into Gaza and the remaining hostages to be released.

“On aid, I will be seeking to build on Israel’s decision to open the Kerem Shalom crossing to ensure significantly more aid and fuel can reach Gaza, through as many routes as possible.

“No-one wants to see this conflict go on for a moment longer than necessary. But for a ceasefire to work, it needs to be sustainable.

“If Israel is still facing Hamas in Gaza with rockets and terror tactics, not only will a ceasefire not be sustainable, a two-state solution in the longer term will also not be possible.”

In Jordan, the Foreign Secretary, who will be accompanied by Middle East minister Lord Ahmad, will meet his counterpart, foreign minister Ayman Safadi.

He will then visit the Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organisation, a focal point of Jordanian humanitarian support for Gaza.

The Conservative peer is expected to meet Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who this week won a third six-year term in office, and foreign minister Sameh Shoukry while in Cairo.

Lord Cameron has previously met Mr el-Sisi, including in Downing Street in 2015, while serving as British prime minister.

During his time in Egypt, officials said Lord Cameron will visit Al Arish, near the Egypt-Gaza border, to see first-hand how UK aid is being administered.

He will hear from the Egyptian Red Crescent about the impact the UK’s aid deliveries, such as wound care packs, are having in Gaza – the besieged territory ruled by Hamas.

The Foreign Office said Lord Cameron will use the trip to welcome Israel’s decision to open the aid crossing at Kerem Shalom, a Gaza border point that lies at the junction of both Israeli and Egyptian jurisdiction.

The opening had been called for by Mr Sunak, including during a phone call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Lord Cameron last week announced a fresh batch of sanctions, targeting both leaders and financiers of Hamas, while also placing restrictions on Israelis responsible for settler violence in the West Bank.

He visited Paris and Rome on Tuesday as part of UK efforts to help co-ordinate the European response to the Middle East conflict and the war in Ukraine.

Israel and Hamas have been at war for more than two months following the Palestinian militant group’s deadly raids on October 7, which saw 1,200 people killed and more than 240 taken hostage.

A week-long pause in the fighting saw some 100 hostages released in a Qatar-brokered deal, but an estimated 129 people are thought to still be held captive.