Responsibility to get aid into Gaza lies with the Israelis, Lord Cameron tells ITV News
There has been no public acknowledgement of progress in ceasefire talks in Egypt, ITV News Correspondent Emma Murphy reports
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said the responsibility of getting aid into Gaza lies with the Israelis, during a visit to Egypt on Thursday.
"I think a lot of responsibility lies with the people who are controlling the Rafah crossing and that is the Israelis," he told ITV News Correspondent Emma Murphy.
"They can do more, they must do more, to let aid in. So that's doing more at Rafah, [and] also opening new entry points for aid to get into Gaza.
"I'd urge them: Get the aid into Gaza," he added.
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron spoke to ITV News Correspondent Emma Murphy in Egypt
The former prime minister spoke from Egypt, where United Nations talks are currently underway to try and negotiate a resolution on humanitarian relief, and the possibility of another ceasefire.
But there have been no signs so far that the negotiations have made any progress.
Earlier Lord Cameron said the UK was “pushing very hard” to ensure aid supplies reach Gaza, both through the reopened Kerem Shalom border crossing and possibly by sea.
“Are there opportunities for aid to come from Cyprus in British ships to be delivered to Gaza? We’re working on that," he said.
“Everything that can be done, must be done to get aid into Gaza to help people in the desperate situation they are in.”
One measure proposed by the former prime minister is the possibility of using British ships to bring supplies by sea.
It comes as the UN Security Council continues to reword its latest resolution before it heads to a vote, which has to this point been delayed three times.
The US has been struggling to change the text’s references to a cessation of hostilities in the Israel-Hamas war.
It's also come to head over the point of aid truck inspection responsibility, which the draft resolution calls to be given by Israel to the UN.
Lord Cameron again restated the UK’s call for Israel to respect international humanitarian law as it continues its military offensive in Gaza.
He also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government must not do anything to jeopardise the long-term prospect of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
Lord Cameron added: “We’ve been very clear with Israel, there can be no permanent occupation of Gaza, no displacement of people from Gaza, no diminution of the size of the Palestinian territories.
“All of those things would be wrong and we’ve made that very clear. Obviously, it is difficult to get from where we are now to where we want to be.
“But sometimes you have to use moments of crisis as potential moments of opportunity.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also restated his commitment to a two-state solution.
“We are strongly in favour of a two-state solution. And that has to be something which international partners are very, very clear about and it’s not in the gift of Israel,” he said.
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