LONDON - Britain wants to take a balanced stance on the war in the Middle East and will work diplomatically to achieve a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, its new foreign secretary David Lammy said in an interview.
Lammy is visiting Germany, his first foreign trip since Labour's landslide victory in Friday's British election that ended 14 years of Conservative rule and propelled Keir Starmer to the premiership.
"The time has come for the UK to reconnect with the outside world," Lammy said in an interview in Berlin. "I want to return to a balanced position on Israel and Gaza. We have said very clearly that we want to see a ceasefire ... We want to see the hostages out." He added: "The fighting must stop, help must get in and I will use all diplomatic efforts to ensure that we reach a ceasefire."
The Labour Party suffered significant electoral setbacks in areas with large Muslim populations in Friday's elections due to dissatisfaction with its stance on the Gaza war, despite its landslide victory in the general election. Efforts to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza gained momentum on Friday after Hamas presented a revised draft of the terms of the agreement, and Israel said negotiations would continue next week.
Health authorities in Gaza say more than 38,000 Palestinians were killed in the offensive launched in response to the Hamas-led assault on Israel on 7 October last year, in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli figures. Lammy also said Britain would seek to restore its global standing on issues such as the climate crisis, as well as in key relationships such as those with European and emerging powers.
"Let's put the Brexit years behind us ... there is a lot we can do together," Lammy said, referring to the previously floated idea of a security pact between the UK and the EU. Lammy will travel to Poland and Sweden on Sunday, where he will focus on discussions on areas including NATO cooperation and the Ukraine crisis, the British Foreign Office said.
CMG/gnews.cz-jav
English 
Czech 
Spanish 
French 
Italian 
Russian 
Chinese 
German