British Foreign Secretary David Cameron calls for a “sustainable ceasefire” in Gaza and work towards a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine in an article with her German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, published this Sunday in 'The Sunday Times'.
The request for a ceasefire although “only if it is sustainable” means a change of tone on the part of the British Government, which until now defended specific “humanitarian breaks” to allow the entry of aid to the Gazans.
In the text, both clarify that, although they represent “very different political traditions” – he is conservative and she is from the Green party -, they share the desire to improve things and “a longing for peacein the Middle East as in other parts of the world.
They clarify that, unlike others, they do not believe that “calling now for a general and immediate ceasefire, in the hope that it will somehow become permanent, be the way to go.”
That would ignore the fact that “Israel was forced to defend itself after the attack” by Hamas on October 7 and that the Islamist group “continues to fire missiles to kill to Israeli citizens every day“. “Hamas must lay down its weapons,” they say.
“An unsustainable ceasefire, which would soon lead to more violence, would only make it more difficult to generate the trust necessary for peace,” they maintain.
The two politicians maintain that “only extremists like Hamas” want to remain “trapped in an endless cycle of violence, sacrificing more innocent lives due to their fanatical ideology.
They insist that the goal “cannot simply be to end the current fighting,” but rather “must be a peace that lasts for days, years and generations.”
“Therefore, we support a ceasefire, but only if it is sustainable,” they added.
The ministers ask Hamas to immediate release of hostages and they warn that leaving them in Gaza “would be a permanent obstacle on the path to a two-state solution (Israeli and Palestinian).”
Cameron and Baerbock highlight three areas of action: first, they recognize Israel's right to defend itself but ask that, “in doing so, it must respect international humanitarian law,” because “too many civilians have already died.”
Secondly, “more aid must be provided to the Palestinians” and, finally, the international community, and particularly Arab countries, must work towards a solution that “provides long-term security for both peoples.”
In this sense, they call for an end to violence by “extremist settlers in the West Bank”, which “are trying to sabotage such efforts,” while, in his opinion, the Palestinians need a team of leaders who will offer them “the government they deserve.”
EFE
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