UK ministers continue to resist calls for ceasefire in Middle East

The UK is “reliant on” a humanitarian pause in the Middle East conflict to get support into Gaza, a minister has said, but the Government is continuing to resist calls for a ceasefire.

Gillian Keegan said “we need to ensure” there is a break in fighting in order to get aid in and allow British citizens to leave the bombarded 25-mile strip.

UK Border Force teams are set up in Egypt to help if the Rafah border crossing is opened up for people to leave.

Israel has only in recent days agreed to allow aid in through the crossing having besieged the Hamas-ruled area, preventing essentials such as water, food and fuel from reaching more than two million Palestinians.

Cairo has reportedly blamed Israeli bombings around Rafah for it not being open for foreign nationals to pass through as the country continues its fightback against Hamas’s deadly assault on October 7.

Asked why ministers would not call for a cessation of violence, Ms Keegan told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that the Government would not want to “cross that line of telling Israel it has anything but the right to defend itself”.

“Hamas have created this situation and Hamas are now embedding themselves in the Palestinian population,” she said.

The Education Secretary said that facilitating any humanitarian pause would in itself be “very difficult” and the UK would be “reliant on” it being observed.

“It’s operationally very difficult and that’s why we’ve sent a plane-load of aid, it’s why we’ve sent Border Force, it’s why we’ve got people there, our International Development Secretary has been working with a lot of people in the region to make sure that we’re prepared to be able to get this aid to the right place,” she said.

“But yes, we’re reliant on there being a pause and the pause being observed.”

More than 80 MPs and have urged the Government to call for a cessation of violence.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar became the latest senior Labour figures to announce they were also calling for a ceasefire on Friday.

But Downing Street has said such a move would “only benefit Hamas” and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has joined the Government in supporting “humanitarian pauses”.

The Foreign Office is in contact with around 200 UK nationals in Gaza, the Prime Minister said.

It comes as the Israeli military launched a second ground raid in Gaza in as many days, striking targets on the outskirts of Gaza City.

More than 7,000 Palestinians have already been killed in the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and an even greater loss of life could come in the event of a full invasion aimed at crushing Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and survived four previous wars with Israel.

More than 1,400 people in Israel were killed during the initial Hamas attack, and Hamas also holds hundreds of hostages, according to the Israeli government.

In a phone call on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Rishi Sunak said the principle of a “rules-based order” with peace and stability must be protected both in Ukraine and the Middle East.

A Downing Street spokesperson said in a readout following the talk: “The Prime Minister underscored the UK’s long-term and unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and reiterated that the conflict in the Middle East would not change that.

“The principle of a rules-based order, in which people could live in peace and stability, needed to be protected both in Ukraine and the Middle East, the Prime Minister added.”

The Communication Workers Union also called on the Government and other political leaders to demand a ceasefire, saying it was “horrified” at the crisis in Israel and Palestine.

It said: “We condemn the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas on Israeli civilians, from brutal massacres of teenagers at raves to the kidnapping of innocent people and indiscriminate rocket attacks on civilian targets.

“No cause on earth can ever justify the slaughter of innocent people, particularly of children and the vulnerable.

“This also applies to Gaza, where 2.2 million people – around half of whom are under 18 – are facing the threat of death and displacement as a result of the Israeli government’s policy of collective punishment against the Palestinian people. This is clearly against international law.

“These acts of violence against Palestinians civilians, including the bombing of entire neighbourhoods and critical infrastructure in Gaza, must end.

“As a trade union, we urge the British government and all political leaders to demand an immediate ceasefire and for a mediation and negotiation to bring about a just settlement based on United Nations resolutions and international law.

“We also extend our solidarity to all communication workers in Palestine and Israel who have been affected by this violence.”