Foreign Secretary meets Israel hostage families and calls for ceasefire as Gaza death toll surges
David Lammy has visited the Middle East on his first diplomatic trip as Foreign Secretary, ITV News Political Correspondent Shehab Khan reports
David Lammy has visited the Middle East on his first diplomatic trip as Foreign Secretary to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as he met with the families of hostages in Israel.
Lammy used the trip to call for a ceasefire, including the release of all hostages, and a rapid increase of aid into Gaza, as the civilian death toll in the region continues to surge.
It comes as schools and homes are among the sites Israeli military strikes continue to pummel in Gaza as the death toll spiked to over 100 in the past three days, according to the health ministry.
More than 38,000 people have been killed and more than 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population have been driven from their homes, with most now crowded into squalid tent camps, facing widespread hunger.
On Monday, a baby, his grandmother and another man were among those killed by an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in central Gaza.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on X, formerly Twitter, that 11 wounded people were taken to the hospital after the strike in the al-Salam neighborhood in western Deir al-Balah.
At least 14 people were killed at the gate of a school used as a shelter for displaced people on Sunday after in an Israeli strike on Nuseirat in central Gaza. Children were among the 15 others wounded.
Israel's military in a statement said it struck “terrorists” operating in the area of a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
“They are targeting everything,” said a displaced Palestinian, Um Fadi Al-Zeer.
On Saturday, Israel said it targeted Hamas’ shadowy military commander in a massive strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza that killed at least 90 people, according to local health officials.
It was not immediately known whether Mohammed Deif was among the dead. But Israeli officials confirmed that he and a second Hamas commander, Rafa Salama, were the targets.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 300 others were injured in the attack and that many of the injured and dead were taken to nearby Nasser Hospital.
The areas had all been described as safe zone by Israel for Palestinians fleeing the fighting raging in Gaza.
On Monday, Sir Keir Starmer has underlined the UK’s “enduring commitment to peace and security” in the Middle East during phone calls with international leaders.
Topics such as the war in Gaza, defence and the UK’s trading relationships were raised during the conversations on Monday afternoon.
The prime minister spoke separately with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Jordan and said he looked forward to meeting them in person soon.
Both Sir Keir and Jordan’s King Abdullah II agreed that “ensuring an immediate ceasefire is vital” to getting the hostages out and aid into Gaza, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy tells ITV News 'I'm here to push for a ceasefire' during his visit to Israel
It comes after the new Foreign Secretary met with the families of hostages murdered or held in Gaza with photos shared on social media showing him embracing and shaking hands with families affected by the Hamas attacks on October 7 last year.
The Foreign Office also said on X: “In the West Bank @DavidLammy met Palestinian community members, where he heard the impact on communities suffering from settler violence and settlement expansion.
“Settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law and harm prospects for a two-state solution.”
Lammy made the case for working towards a two-state solution to the conflict in meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mohammad Mustafa, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority.
He announced the UK will provide another £5.5 million this year to UK-Med to fund its work in Gaza.
The medical aid charity sends experienced humanitarian medics, including those working in the NHS, to crisis-hit regions.
The funding will be used to support the ongoing work of its field hospitals and the emergency department at Nasser Hospital.
During his trip to the Middle East, Lammy has also visited the Palestinian community in the West Bank, where he spoke to community members suffering from settler violence and settlement expansion.
"Settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law and harm prospects for a two-state solution," Lammy wrote on X.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after Hamas’ October 7 attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and abducted about 250.
Since then, Israeli ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 38,300 people in Gaza and wounded more than 88,000, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
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