British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during meetings with Israeli officials in Jerusalem on Sunday and Monday pressed the need for a hostage deal with the Hamas terrorist group to bring an end to the suffering in Gaza.

“I hope, too, that we see a ceasefire soon, and we bring an alleviation to the suffering and the intolerable loss of life that we’re now seeing also in Gaza. It’s in that spirit that I returned [to government] as foreign secretary,” said Lammy.

In public comments following a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday, Lammy said the visit made him “conscious of the trauma of October 7, and very conscious of the pain and anguish that many hostage families are experiencing and the nation is experiencing.”

“I met with U.K. hostage families just last night, who shared with me their concerns and fears for their loved ones,” Lammy said, adding that he was employing “all diplomatic efforts” to get a deal done.

According to an Israeli readout, Herzog congratulated the British diplomat on his new job. “I think the fact that you won in such a landslide enables the United Kingdom to move forward in a very dramatic way, and be involved in new frontiers and new horizons,” the president said.

“I sincerely hope that there will be a hostage deal soon; it is a very important step, also on the merits, and to get us out of the conflict,” the Israeli head of state told Lammy. “I hope, and I know that your government is working extremely tirelessly to get our hostages back home. And I thank you very much for your efforts on this issue.”

During their meeting, Herzog introduced Lammy to the family of Tamir Adar, 38, who was murdered by Hamas in the Oct. 7 assault on Kibbutz Nir Oz and whose body is being held in the Gaza Strip.

 

Later on Monday, Lammy toured the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in the Israeli capital, where the diplomat attended a memorial ceremony.

“It’s one of the great honors of my life to visit the Yad Vashem as the U.K. Foreign Secretary,” he wrote in the guest book. “In the U.K. Parliament, I represent the historic area of Stamford Hill in North London, one of the historic homes of the Jewish community in London—escaping a series of problems in the 19th century and, of course, the Holocaust.

“We honor all that were murdered and we remember the evils of genocide in that period of history,” the foreign secretary wrote.

 

Following his arrival in the Jewish state on Sunday, Lammy met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his office in Jerusalem.

“We need an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, the protection of civilians, unfettered access to aid in Gaza and a pathway towards a two-state solution,” the visitor said following the meeting.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office did not publish a statement on the meeting. Earlier Sunday, the office declined to comment on Lammy’s past description of Netanyahu as “petty, small and vindictive.”

Lammy also traveled to Ramallah in Samaria on Sunday, where he sat down with Mohammad Mustafa, who was appointed prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in March.

According to the P.A.’s official Wafa agency, Lammy during the meeting reiterated London’s commitment to reaching an immediate truce in Gaza along with the provision of humanitarian aid, as well as a two-state solution with Israel and an end to “illegal settlement expansion.”

The British diplomat also expressed support for Mustafa’s government and Ramallah’s plans for administrative reforms.

The U.K. consulate in Jerusalem in a statement added that Lammy “extended his heartfelt condolences on the tragic loss of life since October” and reiterated London’s commitment to an “irreversible” pathway towards the establishment of a Palestinian state.

As part of his visit to the region, Lammy announced a £5.5 million (≈$7 million) donation to the UK-Med NGO, which Lammy said sends “experienced humanitarian medics, including those working in the NHS [National Health Service], to crisis-hit regions to deliver life and limb-saving health care.

“This funding will be used to support the ongoing work of their field hospitals and the emergency department at Nasser Hospital,” he stated.

In February, the Israel Defense Forces arrested 200 Hamas terrorists inside the Khan Younis medical center, which like every other hospital in Gaza served as a Hamas terrorist hub.

Lammy said last weekend that he would seek a “balanced position” on the Israel-Hamas conflict following Labour’s landslide victory on July 4.

The Guardian earlier this month reported that the new government would abandon the U.K.’s effort to challenge the International Criminal Court over attempts to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli leaders.

On Monday, Israel’s Maariv daily cited British officials as saying that Lammy informed Israeli officials this week that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration was still formulating its position on the ICC.

The previous government, under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, joined Israel in opposing ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan after he applied to have the court issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes, along with Hamas leaders.

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