British public ‘revolted' by Gaza crisis, PM says as Cabinet meeting planned
Sir Keir is expected to urge the US president to apply pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the population is facing starvation.
'It's a humanitarian crisis, it's an absolute catastrophe,' the Prime Minister said of the situation in Gaza as he arrived in Ayrshire.
He added: 'Nobody wants to see that. I think people in Britain are revolted at seeing what they're seeing on their screens, so we've got to get to that ceasefire.'
Israel announced at the weekend that it would suspend fighting in three areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day and open secure routes for aid delivery, while the UK confirmed it was taking part in plans led by Jordan to airdrop aid into the territory.
Sir Keir is expected to present a UK-led plan to bring peace to the Middle East to Mr Trump and other allies in the coming days, Downing Street indicated.
Work on the plan began alongside France and Germany over the weekend after a call with the two countries' leaders, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz.
Writing in the Mirror newspaper on Friday, the Prime Minister likened the plan to the international effort to support Ukraine towards a lasting peace, the coalition of the willing.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said the plan would build 'on the collaboration to date that paves the way to a long-term solution on security in the region'.
He added: 'As I've said, the Prime Minister will be presenting that plan to other key allies, including the USA and Arab states, over the coming days, and indeed convening Cabinet this week. You can expect to see more coming out of that.'
There is no indication yet of which day this week the Cabinet meeting – which gathers together the Government's most senior ministers – will take place.
The Prime Minister is meanwhile facing calls from a growing number of MPs to immediately recognise a Palestinian state.
Palestinians have an 'inalienable right to statehood', and it is a 'question of when, not if' the UK will agree to recognition, No 10 said.
More than 250 cross-party MPs have now signed a letter calling for ministers to take the step, up from 221 on Friday.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds earlier dismissed the idea that there is a split at the top of Government over when to recognise a Palestinian state.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting is among those to have signalled a desire for hastened action calling for recognition 'while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise', while Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the Government wants to recognise a Palestinian state 'in contribution to a peace process'.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Mr Reynolds said: 'There's no split. The whole of the Labour Party, every Labour MP, was elected on a manifesto of recognition of a Palestinian state, and we all want it to happen.
'It is a case of when, not if.'
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Reuters
2 minutes ago
- Reuters
US envoy Witkoff visits the Gaza aid operation that the UN calls unsafe
CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Aug 1 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy became the first high-profile U.S. official to visit Gaza since the war began, touring a U.S.-backed aid operation on Friday that the United Nations says is partly to blame for deadly conditions in the enclave. Steve Witkoff visited a site run by the U.S. and Israel--backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah in what he said was an effort to create a new aid plan for the war-shattered Palestinian territory, where Israel has been fighting the militant group Hamas. Humanitarian organizations and many foreign governments have been strongly critical of the GHF, which began operations in late May. A global hunger monitor warned this week that famine is unfolding in Gaza. Hours after Witkoff's visit, Palestinian medics reported Israeli forces had shot dead three Palestinians near one of the group's sites in the city on Gaza's southern edge. Reuters could not immediately verify whether it was the same location. The Israeli military said it was still looking into the incident in which soldiers had fired warning shots at what it described as a "gathering of suspects" approaching its troops, hundreds of metres from the aid site. The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in Gaza since the GHF began operating there, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites. The Israeli military has acknowledged that its forces have killed some Palestinians seeking aid and says it has given its troops new orders to improve their response. The U.N. has declined to work with the GHF, which it says distributes aid in ways that are inherently dangerous and violate humanitarian neutrality principles, contributing to the hunger crisis across the territory. The GHF says nobody has been killed at its distribution points, and that it is doing a better job of protecting aid deliveries than the U.N. Israel blames Hamas and the U.N. for the failure of food to get to desperate Palestinians in Gaza and introduced the GHF distribution system saying it would prevent aid supplies being seized by Hamas. Hamas denies stealing aid. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who traveled with Witkoff to Gaza on Friday, posted on X a picture showing hungry Gazans behind razor wire with a GHF poster with a big American flag that read "100,000,000 meals delivered". "President Trump understands the stakes in Gaza and that feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority," GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay said in a statement, accompanied by images of Witkoff in a grey camouflage top, flak jacket and "Make America Great Again" baseball cap with Trump's name stitched on the back. "We were honoured to brief his delegation, share our operations, and demonstrate the impact of delivering 100 million meals to those who need them most," Fay said. Witkoff said on X that he had also met with other agencies. "The purpose of the visit was to give @POTUS (Trump) a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza," Witkoff said. He visited Gaza a day after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel is under mounting international pressure over the devastation of Gaza since the start of the war in October 2023 and growing starvation among its 2.2 million inhabitants. Gaza medics say dozens have died of malnutrition in recent days as hunger sets in, after Israel cut off all supplies to the enclave for nearly three months from March-May. Israel says it is taking steps to let in more aid, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. The worsening humanitarian crisis has prompted France, Britain and Canada to announce plans to potentially recognise a Palestinian state, a move already taken by most countries but not by major Western powers. The Israeli military's statistics show that an average of around 140 aid trucks have entered Gaza daily during the course of the war, about a quarter of what international humanitarian agencies say is required. On Friday, the Israeli military said that 200 trucks of aid were distributed by the U.N. and other organizations on Thursday, with hundreds more waiting to be picked up from the border crossings inside Gaza. The United Nations says it has thousands of trucks still waiting, if Israel would let them in without the stringent security measures that aid groups say have prevented the entry of much-needed humanitarian assistance throughout the war. Israel has begun allowing food air drops this week, but U.N. agencies say these are a poor alternative to letting in more trucks. On Friday, the Israeli military said that 126 food packages were airdropped by six countries, including for the first time France, Spain, and Germany. "If there is political will to allow airdrops - which are highly costly, insufficient & inefficient, there should be similar political will to open the road crossings," U.N. Palestinian aid agency chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X. In addition to the three shot near a GHF site, medics said at least 12 other Palestinians were killed in air strikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday. The Israeli military did not immediately comment. The Gaza war, which began after Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, most of them in Israeli airstrikes. Ceasefire talks in Qatar ended last week in deadlock.
South Wales Argus
3 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
US special envoy Witkoff visits food distribution centre in Gaza
International experts warned this week that a 'worst-case scenario of famine' is playing out in Gaza. Israel's near 22-month military offensive against Hamas has shattered security in the territory of some 2.0 million Palestinians and made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food to starving people. Envoy Steve Witkoff and the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, toured a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution site in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, which has been almost completely destroyed and is now a largely depopulated Israeli military zone. Steve Witkoff, centre, and Mike Huckabee, centre left, visiting a food distribution site in Gaza City (David Azaguri/US Embassy Jerusalem via AP) Hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli fire while heading to such aid sites since May, according to witnesses, health officials and the UN human rights office. Israel and GHF say they have only fired warning shots and that the toll has been exaggerated. In a report issued on Friday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said GHF was at the heart of a 'flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.' Mr Witkoff posted on X that he had spent more than five hours inside Gaza in order to gain 'a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza'. Humanitarian aid is airdropped to Palestinians over Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) Chapin Fay, a spokesperson for GHF, said the visit reflected Mr Trump's understanding of the stakes and that 'feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority'. The group said it has delivered over 100 million meals since it began operations in May. All four of the group's sites established in May are in zones controlled by the Israeli military and have become flashpoints of desperation, with starving people scrambling for scarce aid. More 1,000 people have been killed by Israeli fire since May while seeking aid in the territory, most near the GHF sites but also near United Nations aid convoys, the UN human rights office said last month. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Officials at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza said on Friday they received the bodies of 13 people who were killed while trying to get aid, including near the site that US officials visited. GHF denied anyone was killed at their sites on Friday and said most recent shootings had occurred near UN aid convoys. Mr Witkoff's visit comes a week after US officials walked away from ceasefire talks in Qatar, blaming Hamas and pledging to seek other ways to rescue Israeli hostages and make Gaza safe. Mr Trump wrote on social media that the fastest way to end the crisis would be for Hamas to surrender and release hostages. The war was triggered when Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on October 7 2023 and abducted 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages, including about 20 believed to be alive. Most of the others have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. Its count does not distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Evening Standard
3 minutes ago
- Evening Standard
Hostage families: Releases will play ‘no part' in UK plan to recognise Palestine
'We do not say this lightly, but it was made obvious to us at the meeting that although the conditions for recognising a Palestinian state would be assessed 'in the round' in late-September, in deciding whether to go ahead with recognition, the release or otherwise of the hostages would play no part in those considerations.
