David Lammy meets families of Hamas hostages during Israel trip

David Lammy met families of hostages murdered or held in Gaza by Hamas as he continued his visit to the Middle East.

The Foreign Secretary used his trip to call for an immediate ceasefire, including the release of all hostages and a rapid increase of aid into Gaza.

In Israel, he “spoke with families whose loved ones were murdered and taken hostage by Hamas”, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said on Monday.

Photos shared on social media showed him embracing and shaking hands with those affected.

The department also said on X, formerly Twitter: “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.”

In meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mohammad Mustafa, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, on Sunday, Mr Lammy also made the case for working towards a two-state solution to the conflict.

He announced that 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.

Mr Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, said: “The death and destruction in Gaza is intolerable.

“This war must end now, with an immediate ceasefire, complied with by both sides.

“The fighting has got to stop, the hostages still cruelly detained by Hamas terrorists need to be released immediately, and aid must be allowed in to reach the people of Gaza without restrictions.

“I am meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to stress the UK’s ambition and commitment to play its full diplomatic role in securing a ceasefire deal and creating the space for a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution.

“The world needs a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.”

He added: “Central to this is to see an end to expanding illegal Israeli settlements and rising settler violence in the West Bank.

“Here, in what should be a crucial part of a Palestinian state, alongside Gaza and East Jerusalem, we need to see a reformed and empowered Palestinian Authority.”

Mr Lammy’s visit comes after Israel’s latest strike on Gaza, which killed at least 90 people in the south of the territory.

The Israelis say the attack was targeting Hamas’s military commander, Mohammed Deif, but it was not known whether he was among the dead.