Gaza ceasefire must be secured, PM to tell Trump amid stalled negotiations

Ceasefire talks in Qatar ground to a standstill this week after America and Israel withdrew negotiating teams from the country, with US special envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of a “lack of desire” to reach an agreement.

Deal

The deal under discussion was expected to include a 60-day ceasefire, and aid supplies would be ramped up as conditions for a lasting truce were brokered.

Sir Keir will raise Washington’s work with partners in Qatar and Egypt during his talks with Mr Trump and seek to discuss what more can be done to urgently bring about a ceasefire, it is understood.

They will also discuss the recently agreed US-UK trade deal and the war in Ukraine.

Britain is working with Jordan on plans to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance amid international concern about suffering in the Palestinian territory.

However, the head of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency has warned that such efforts are “a distraction” that will fail to properly address deepening starvation in the strip, and could in some cases harm civilians.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said: “A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will.

“Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need.”

Pause

Israel has now said it will pause fighting in three populated areas of Gaza and establish humanitarian corridors to enable UN convoys to transport aid to desperate Palestinians, as well as allowing airdrops.

In a statement, the country’s military said it would enable “safe movement of deliveries of food and medicine” but that it “emphasises that combat operations have not ceased”.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) also said that there was “no starvation” in Gaza, despite increasing accounts of malnutrition and starvation-related deaths.

Speaking to broadcasters on Sunday, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray acknowledged that airdrops come with “real limits and drawbacks” but that the situation was “desperate and urgent.”

“Until the restrictions are lifted, until aid is able to get in at the scale and quantity that is needed, we need to be doing everything we possibly can to help,” he told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show.

He declined to say whether he was confident that Israel’s promise to allow UN convoys to reach Gaza would help to feed its population.

“Let’s see what happens with that,” the minister said.

“What we are not going to lose sight of is the importance of lifting restrictions on aid getting in so that it can get in at the quantity that is needed to make sure that we can move things forward.”

Emergency

Sir Keir held emergency talks with French and German counterparts on Saturday, during which Number 10 said they agreed “it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently-needed ceasefire into lasting peace”.

A Downing Street readout of the call made no mention of Palestinian statehood, which Sir Keir has faced calls to immediately recognise after French President Emmanuel Macron announced his country would do so in September.

Some 221 MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents have signed a letter pressuring the Government to follow suit at a UN meeting next week.

The majority of those who have signed, 131, are Labour MPs.

The Government has so far said its immediate focus should be on getting aid into the territory and insisted that recognising statehood must be done as part of a peace process.

Mr Murray said on Sunday: “As a Government, we’re committed to the recognition of Palestine, but we need to work with international partners and we need to use that moment to galvanise change.

“It needs to be part of a pathway to peace.”

He added: “140 countries have already recognised Palestine. The suffering is still continuing.”

Sir Keir and Mr Trump, who is in South Ayrshire on a private visit to his Turnberry golf course, are expected to meet on Monday.