The UK’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy has become the face of Labour’s evolving stance on the Israel-Gaza war as he travels the region hoping to show the empathy and leadership that is demanded by his hosts on all sides.
The lawyer and author turned politician has stepped up his criticism of the war after four visits to the region in six weeks in an attempt to de-escalate tensions and help pave the way for a two-state solution.
His position presents a challenge to foreign secretary Lord Cameron, who has sought to recalibrate the Conservative government’s unwavering support for Israel in the war’s first weeks.
“We look with huge concern at the civilian loss of life in Gaza,” Mr Lammy told media. “Everyone has said to me that the role that the UK can play, because of its relationship with Israel but also with Lebanon and the wider region, is important.
“We do not want to see an escalation of violence,” he said, a point he stressed last week on a visit to Lebanon. “I’m here because of regional concerns about the escalation of violence that we are seeing in Gaza at this time, to understand better what diplomatic steps can be brought to bear,” he added.
“Britain has very significant role to play in the Levant area, where we have a historic relationship and we are hugely respected,” he said.
Labour has been divided over leader Keir Starmer’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza, in response to the Hamas attacks of October 7.
But the party has since appeared to change its tone, with Mr Lammy criticising the “intolerable” death toll in Gaza in December, and calling for an immediate “humanitarian truce,” in parliament last week, with the backing of Mr Starmer.
The truce would act as a stepping stone towards ending the conflict with a “sustainable ceasefire”.
Mr Lammy’s meetings during the Israel-Gaza war may forge the foreign policy priorities for a future Labour government.
He was also in Israel to meet with President Isaac Herzog and then foreign minister Isaac Cohen, after calling for a longer “pause” to the conflict, and he travelled to Jordan and Egypt to meet the Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Al Safadi and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.
In Bahrain for the Manama Dialogue, he met with Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, foreign minister of Oman.
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