Palestinian<\/a> statehood, which she said risked emboldening Hamas.<\/p>\nSpeaking to broadcasters earlier on Sunday, Ms Phillipson, who is also running for the Labour deputy leadership, was questioned on the scope of Britain\u2019s involvement in securing peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have played a key role behind the scenes in shaping this, it\u2019s right that we do so because it\u2019s in all of our interests, including our own national interest, that we move to a lasting peace in the region,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Asked what this contribution involved, she told Sky News\u2019 Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: \u201cThese are complex matters of diplomacy that we are involved in.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we do welcome and recognise the critical role that the American government played in getting us to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Sunday afternoon, Ms Haskel criticised the decision to recognise Palestinian statehood and accused Britain of diminishing the prospect of peace by emboldening Hamas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government of the UK, Macron\u2019s plan, the whole conversation about declaring a Palestinian state \u2013 we disagree with you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Asked about Ms Phillipson\u2019s characterisation of the UK\u2019s efforts, the minister said: \u201cWell, I have to contradict her words, unfortunately.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, with the declaration of the Palestinian state during a very sensitive time two months ago when the teams were already around the table negotiating, when we truly believe we are able to reach a deal, the message that the UK Government sent Hamas was the message that the longer they continue this war, they will be rewarded.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UK joined countries including France, Australia and Canada last month in confirming recognition of Palestinian statehood in a historic if largely symbolic move leaders said was intended to safeguard the prospect of a two-state solution.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister will attend the \u201csigning ceremony\u201d for the Gaza peace plan in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt on Monday, where he is expected to heap praise on Mr Trump and the diplomatic efforts of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.<\/p>\n
Sir Keir will pay \u201cparticular tribute\u201d to the US leader and partners in the region for \u201cbringing us to this point\u201d before calling for \u201cswift progress towards phase two\u201d, Downing Street said.<\/p>\n
French President Emmanuel Macron will also attend, the Elysee Palace confirmed on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, who was poised to potentially join a \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d supervising governance of Gaza under the plans, met the deputy chief of the Palestinian Authority on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Hussein Al-Sheikh said he had \u201cconfirmed our readiness to work with President Trump, Mr Blair\u201d and other partners to secure the entry of aid and the release of hostages and prisoners, before starting on \u201crecovery and reconstruction\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stressed the importance of stopping the undermining of the Palestinian Authority, and especially the return of the withheld Palestinian revenues and preventing the undermining of the two-state solution in preparation for a comprehensive and lasting peace in accordance with international legitimacy\u201d, he said in a post on X.<\/p>\n
The 20-point plan brokered by the US president calls for Israel to maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel.<\/p>\n
An international force, comprising largely troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside the enclave.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military has said it will continue to operate defensively from the roughly 50% of Gaza it still controls after pulling back to agreed-upon lines.<\/p>\n
Under the terms of the agreement, the first phase of the plan is expected to see remaining hostages returned to their families and Palestinian prisoners released from Monday morning.<\/p>\n
The Government has already said there are no plans to send British troops to be part of the multinational force that will monitor the truce.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Sir Tony had consulted Sir Keir about his possible role, Ms Phillipson said:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m afraid I simply can\u2019t answer that question.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel on Sunday dismissed the Prime Minister\u2019s visit to\u00a0Egypt\u00a0as a \u201cphoto opportunity\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we have to be honest (about) the fact that Britain has had no role, no role whatsoever, under Keir\u00a0Starmer\u2019s\u00a0government, in even getting to this very seismic and momentous moment,\u201d she told the BBC.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s extraordinary that Keir\u00a0Starmer\u00a0apparently is going to\u00a0Egypt\u00a0tomorrow when we\u2019ve got plenty of domestic issues that he should be resolving.\u201d<\/p>\n
About 200 US troops have arrived in Israel, where they are expected to set up a centre to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid and provide security assistance, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The Gaza war was triggered when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.<\/p>\n
In Israel\u2019s ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 wounded, according to Gaza\u2019s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children.<\/p>\n
The United Nations and many independent experts consider the ministry\u2019s figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-494438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115363122098293720","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}