Starmer welcomes ‘overdue’ Gaza ceasefire and mourns Britons lost in conflict
The UK Prime Minister said Britain would join its allies in continuing work to ‘break the cycle of violence and secure long-term peace.’
Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal as “long-overdue news” and paid tribute to British citizens who were killed during the conflict in the Middle East.
The UK Prime Minister said Britain would join its allies in continuing work to “break the cycle of violence and secure long-term peace” for Israelis and Palestinians, which he said would be grounded in a two-state solution.
He paid tribute to “those who won’t make it home – including the British people who were murdered by Hamas.”
At least a dozen British citizens and some 1,200 Israelis were killed the surprise Hamas cross-border attack on October 7 2023 which triggered months of fighting.
Israel responded with a fierce offensive that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza’s population and sparked a humanitarian crisis.
After weeks of painstaking negotiations in Qatar, officials announced on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal raising the possibility of winding down the deadliest and most destructive fighting between the bitter enemies.
It promises the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and would allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, the Prime Minister said: “After months of devastating bloodshed and countless lives lost, this is the long-overdue news that the Israeli and Palestinian people have desperately been waiting for.
“They have borne the brunt of this conflict – triggered by the brutal terrorists of Hamas, who committed the deadliest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust on October 7 2023.
“The hostages, who were brutally ripped from their homes on that day and held captive in unimaginable conditions ever since, can now finally return to their families. But we should also use this moment to pay tribute to those who won’t make it home – including the British people who were murdered by Hamas. We will continue to mourn and remember them.
“For the innocent Palestinians whose homes turned into a warzone overnight and the many who have lost their lives, this ceasefire must allow for a huge surge in humanitarian aid, which is so desperately needed to end the suffering in Gaza.
“And then our attention must turn to how we secure a permanently better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people – grounded in a two-state solution that will guarantee security and stability for Israel, alongside a sovereign and viable Palestine state.
“The UK and its allies will continue to be at the forefront of these crucial efforts to break the cycle of violence and secure long-term peace in the Middle East.”
The sister of two British citizens murdered in the Israel-Hamas conflict said “there will never be any closure” until all Israeli hostages are returned.
Ayelet Svatitzky’s brothers Roi and Nadav Popplewell both died, and her mother, Channah Peri, was previously taken as a hostage.
Speaking from Israel, she told the PA news agency: “We’ve been praying for a deal to be signed, and every hostage (being) released is a relief for them, for the families and for us.
“Of course, it’s too late for my brother, we will never be able to save them.
“We were able to bring him for burial, and so we know how crucial it is for for a deal to be complete and for all hostages to be brought back, for the live hostages to be released to their families and to start the healing and rehabilitating.”
She added: “There will never be any closure for us until all the hostages are back. We’ll be worried and we’re not able to move on until the last hostage is home.”
Community groups and parliamentarians from across the political spectrum in Britain reacted with cautious optimism to the agreement.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it hoped the deal would mean “Israeli and Palestinian civilians will see an end to suffering and work can begin towards a comprehensive resolution that grants peace and security to all.”
“For more than a year, since the October 7 massacre, we have been yearning for the return of the hostages taken captive by Hamas and an end to this terrible war,” president of the board Phil Rosenberg said.
“Notwithstanding our hopes, we will not cease our advocacy until the last hostage is home.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the agreement offered “a moment of hope after over a year of agony” following Hamas’ “appalling attack” but “much remains to be done” to achieve lasting peace in the region.
“For the hostages and their loved ones, including British citizen Emily Damari, and Eli Sharabi, Oded Lifschitz and Avinatan Or, this has been an unbearable trauma. For the people of Gaza, so many of whom have lost lives, homes or loved ones, this has been a living nightmare. For the region, this has brought yet more division and conflict,” he said.
“We will play our full part in the coming days and weeks, working alongside our partners, to seize this chance for a better future.”
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney said he hoped the agreement was “the beginning of a long-term political solution in the Middle East” but “significant work” is still required to ensure security in the Middle East.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the deal was “a moment of hope after many months of darkness and despair” and said the “work of flooding Gaza with the aid which it has desperately needed for months” must now begin in earnest.
