UK, Germany stress need for ‘sustainable ceasefire’ – soon but not ‘right now’
Foreign ministers Cameron and Baerbock say too many Gazan civilians killed in campaign, but acknowledge immediate end to fighting is not ‘the way forward’ due to Hamas atrocities
UK foreign minister David Cameron and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, on Saturday said the “need is urgent” for a “sustainable ceasefire” in Gaza, but not “right now.”
The two ministers wrote in a joint Sunday Times article that “too many civilians have been killed” in the conflict, and raised the pressure on Israel to bring its operation against Hamas to a swift, but “sustainable,” end.
“We must do all we can to pave the way to a sustainable ceasefire, leading to a sustainable peace. The sooner it comes, the better — the need is urgent,” they wrote.
However, the pair also said that they “do not believe that calling right now for a general and immediate ceasefire, hoping it somehow becomes permanent, is the way forward.
“It ignores why Israel is forced to defend itself: Hamas barbarically attacked Israel and still fires rockets to kill Israeli citizens every day. Hamas must lay down its arms,” they added.
The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday night overwhelmingly demanded a ceasefire in Gaza, but the UK abstained.
Israel is coming under increasing pressure from its allies over its war in Gaza, with key backer the United States criticizing its bombings in response to the October 7 attacks as “indiscriminate.”
The war began after Hamas terrorists rampaged through southern communities on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians massacred amid brutal atrocities, and taking around 240 hostages to Gaza.
Vowing to destroy Hamas and to bring the hostages home, Israel launched an air and ground offensive in Gaza, which has been ruled by the terror group since 2007.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has claimed that, since the start of the war, more than 18,800 people have been killed, mostly civilians. These figures cannot be independently verified and are believed to include some 7,000 Hamas terrorists, according to Israel, as well as civilians killed by misfired Palestinian rockets. Another estimated 1,000 terrorists were killed in Israel during the October 7 onslaught.
As calls grew among Israel’s Western partners to end the fighting, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna arrived Sunday in Tel Aviv, where she was due to press for an “immediate and durable” truce in a meeting with her counterpart Eli Cohen.
Paris on Saturday condemned an Israeli strike in Gaza that killed a French Foreign Ministry employee, demanding that “light be shed” on the circumstances.
Colonna is also due to meet the families of French hostages still held in Gaza and to call for an “immediate and durable new humanitarian truce,” according to a foreign ministry statement.
The truce should lead to a lasting ceasefire with the aim of releasing all hostages and delivering aid to Gaza, it said.
The French top diplomat will also meet her Palestinian counterpart, Riyad al-Maliki, in the West Bank.
Shortly before her arrival in Israel, Colonna condemned increasing attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank.
“Since October 7, unfortunately, some settlers, driven by their ideological blindness… have committed crimes” against Palestinians, she said, adding that “these settlers must be punished.”
The Times of Israel Community.