New UK foreign secretary: Country needs to ‘get back to balanced position’ on Gaza war
David Lammy says fighting in Strip ‘has to stop’ and hostages must be freed, after party’s massive win marred by Muslim voters’ anger
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) — Britain wants a balanced position on the war in the Middle East and will use diplomatic efforts to ensure a ceasefire is reached and hostages held by Hamas are released, its new foreign minister David Lammy told Reuters.
Lammy is visiting Germany, his first international trip following the UK Labour Party’s thumping victory in Britain’s election on Friday, which ended 14 years of Conservative government and propelled Keir Starmer to power as prime minister.
“The time has come for the United Kingdom to reconnect with the outside world,” Lammy said in an interview in Berlin.
“I want to get back to a balanced position on Israel and Gaza. We’ve been very clear that we want to see a ceasefire… We want to see those hostages out.”
He added: “The fighting has to stop, the aid has got to get in, and I will use all diplomatic efforts to ensure that we get to that ceasefire.”
Lammy did not elaborate further.
Despite a landslide victory in the parliamentary vote, the Labour Party suffered significant election setbacks in areas with large Muslim populations in the election on Friday amid discontent over its refusal to take a tougher stance against Israel on the war in Gaza.
Efforts to secure a truce and hostage release in Gaza gathered momentum on Friday after Hamas submitted a revised proposal on the terms of a deal, and Israel said negotiations would continue into next week.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive launched in response to a Hamas-led assault on Israel on October 7 in which nearly 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
The Gaza health ministry’s figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, of whom Israel says it has killed some 15,000 in battle, as well as about 1,000 Hamas operatives in Israel on October 7.
Speaking to Reuters, Lammy said Britain would seek to reset its position globally on issues such as the climate crisis and the UK’s key relationships, including with European and emerging powers.
“Let us put the Brexit years behind us… there’s much that we can do together,” Lammy said, pointing to a previously floated idea of a UK-EU security pact.
Lammy will on Sunday travel to Poland and Sweden, where he will focus discussions on areas including cooperation on NATO and the war in Ukraine, Britain’s foreign office said.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
