UK foreign secretary says Israeli ministers hope 'we are on the cusp of a deal'
Foreign Secretary David Lammy and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné, in a joint statement after meeting their Israeli counterparts, said they had been told they hope they are “on the cusp of a deal” to bring the conflict to an end.
Lammy said: “The reports out of Qatar suggests the first day of hostage talks has gone well and it has been important to listen to ministers here in Israel and hear too from them that they hope we are on the cusp of a deal.
“As we head now to 315 days of war the time for a deal – for those hostages to be returned, for aid to get in, in the quantities that are necessary in Gaza, and for the fighting to stop – is now.
“Of course that is the message that we have jointly underlined to ministers today, both in Israel and in the occupied territories.”
UN calls Israeli settler attack in West Bank 'horrific'
Echoing widespread condemnation internationally and within Israel of the attack reportedly by Israeli settlers on the village of Jit on Thursday which left a Palestinian man dead and about a dozen injured, Office of the United Nations high commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani described the incident as “horrific”.
She noted that the killing “was not an isolated attack”, in reference to years of violence directed at Palestinian communities by Israeli settlers, maintaining that it was “the direct consequence” of Israel’s policy of occupation.
“We have been reporting for the past years about settlers attacking Palestinian communities in their land in the West Bank with impunity and this really is the crux of the matter, the impunity that the perpetrators of such actions have been enjoying,” Shamdasani said.
“Clearly this needs to stop and key to this will be accountability for the perpetrators,” the OHCHR spokesperson said.
UK foreign secretary says Israeli ministers hope 'we are on the cusp of a deal'
Foreign Secretary David Lammy and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné, in a joint statement after meeting their Israeli counterparts, said they had been told they hope they are “on the cusp of a deal” to bring the conflict to an end.
Lammy said: “The reports out of Qatar suggests the first day of hostage talks has gone well and it has been important to listen to ministers here in Israel and hear too from them that they hope we are on the cusp of a deal.
“As we head now to 315 days of war the time for a deal – for those hostages to be returned, for aid to get in, in the quantities that are necessary in Gaza, and for the fighting to stop – is now.
“Of course that is the message that we have jointly underlined to ministers today, both in Israel and in the occupied territories.”
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