UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has travelled to Saudi Arabia after the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Tokyo, where participants agreed on the urgent need to allow humanitarian pauses in Gaza to facilitate urgently needed assistance, civilian movement and release of hostages.
The Foreign Secretary is pushing diplomatic efforts on the conflict between Hamas and Israel to prevent it from turning into a wider war.
James Cleverly: “I have been focused on diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages, to ensure that foreign nationals can leave Gaza, to deter any escalation regionally, and to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid at scale. I will continue this essential work in Saudi Arabia, where I will meet with a number of my counterparts in the region to explore how we can achieve those aims quickly and also look to the future of a lasting, peaceful, and prosperous two-state solution for both Israelis and Palestinians”.
Cleverly is holding high-level talks to prevent the conflict from escalating into a wider conflict, including in Lebanon and Yemen. He is also pushing to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and working towards a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
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The Foreign Secretary wants to reaffirm the UK’s commitment to containing the conflict and to increase the flow of aid, including medicines, fuel and water, getting into Gaza through as many routes as possible.
He will reiterate the UK’s support for humanitarian pauses in the fighting for aid to be delivered and provide a crucial window for hostages to be released. Hamas is currently holding 242 hostages, with a number being British nationals.
The Foreign Secretary will also condemn the rise in Israeli settler violence in the West Bank.
During his visit to Saudi Arabia, the Foreign Secretary met with the Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Riyad al-Maliki.
He will meet with foreign ministers from the Middle East, who are gathering in Saudi Arabia ahead of a League of Arab States emergency meeting on Gaza this Saturday.
The UK has delivered vital equipment and lifesaving aid to support civilians in Gaza and a £30 million increase in a UK assistance package for the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
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