Starmer to prioritise Gaza in talks with Trump in Scotland

Times

6 days ago

Israeli military pauses in three areas of Gaza are expected to last only 'a week or so', Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief, has said.
Fletcher said the time frame was 'clearly insufficient', telling the BBC that the UN was witnessing a '21st-century atrocity'.
He described the next few days as 'make or break', adding that the 100 or so truckloads of aid that were distributed in the Strip yesterday were 'a drop in the ocean' and that much of it 'got looted'.
Britain does not want a 'tokenistic' recognition of a Palestinian state, a senior minister has said.
Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, said that Britain wanted to recognise Palestine in this parliament, but argued this had to be done 'in a way that gets the breakthrough we need'.
'Many countries around the world have already done this — to be frank, to be candid, that hasn't stopped the appalling scenes that we're talking about this morning,' he said.
'We can only do this once. If we do it in a way which is tokenistic, which doesn't produce the end to this conflict, where do we go to next?'
Airdrops of aid into Gaza will not be enough to end starvation, the government has acknowledged.
Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, said: 'We know the only way to get sufficient quantities of aid into Gaza is for that blockade to end, for those vehicles to get in on the ground. The point about the air drops is that we cannot wait. We've got to do something. It's an unconscionable situation.'
Only the US can persuade Israel to let in more aid to Gaza and restart peace talks, the business secretary has acknowledged.
Jonathan Reynolds said Sir Keir Starmer would seek to persuade President Trump to do more at a meeting today because 'the US are the ones with real leverage' in the Middle East.
'We need the US. Only the US can really make the kind of breakthrough as a third country that we need to see in terms of the end of this conflict,' he told Sky News.
A pause in Israeli military action is thought to have begun in three areas of Gaza to 'improve the humanitarian response'.
The halt in activity was due to begin this morning at 10am local time (8am UK time), lasting until 8pm local time (6pm UK time). Israel's military said it would come into force on a daily basis in Gaza City, al-Mawasi and Deir al-Balah.
Israel also confirmed on Monday morning that 120 truckloads of aid were distributed in Gaza yesterday by the UN and aid agencies.
Scotland's first minister, John Swinney, has also said that he will use a planned meeting with Trump to call for more humanitarian aid and a ceasefire in Gaza.
He told BBC Breakfast: 'The international situation is causing deep unease and concern and heartbreak within Scotland, particularly the situation in Gaza.'
Swinney said the 'blunt human reality' is that the people of Gaza face starvation and there 'must be an intensification of pressure on Israel'.
Trump is 'perhaps uniquely positioned to apply that pressure to Israel', he said.Swinney said he also plans to discuss trade, investment and economic connection.
Also on the table when Starmer meets Trump will be the future of tariffs on British steel.
The US and UK have agreed to slash trade barriers but tariffs for the steel industry were left at 25 per cent rather than falling to zero as originally agreed.
Downing Street said that both sides were working 'at pace' to 'go further to deliver benefits to working people on both sides of the Atlantic' and to give UK industry 'the security it needs'.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss the war in Ukraine, which No 10 said would include 'applying pressure' on President Putin to end the invasion.
Starmer and Trump will then travel on together for a private engagement in Aberdeen.
The prime minister is said to be 'horrified' by images of starvation in Gaza and will prioritise the issue when he meets President Trump at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland.
No 10 said Sir Keir Starmer would raise 'what more can be done' to secure a ceasefire and 'bring an end to the unspeakable suffering and starvation'.
Trump said the pair would be 'discussing a lot about Israel', adding that Starmer was 'very much involved in terms of wanting something to happen'.
Starmer is expected to attempt to set out a 'UK peace plan' and revive wider efforts to reach a solution in Gaza. He insists that British recognition of a Palestinian state is a matter of 'when, not if' and is seeking to do so as part of a co-ordinated international effort.