British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, in an article with his German counterpart published this Sunday in The Sunday Times, called for a “lasting ceasefire” in Gaza and to work towards lasting peace between Israel and Palestine .
The call for a ceasefire, but “only if it is sustainable”, marks a change of tone on the part of the British government, which has until now occasionally defended “humanitarian pauses” to allow aid into Gaza deliver.
In the text, David Cameron and the head of German diplomacy, Annalena Baerbock, clarify that despite representing “very different political traditions” – he is conservative and she is green – they share a desire to improve things and “ desire for peace, in the Middle East and in other parts of the world.”
Unlike others, do not believe that “calling now for a general and immediate ceasefire, in the hope that this will become permanent, is the way forwardR”.
This 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 rockets every day to kill Israeli civilians.” “Hamas must lay down its weapons,” they say.
“An unsustainable ceasefire, which would quickly lead to more violence, would only make it harder to build the trust necessary for peace,” they argue.
The two politicians argue that “only extremists like Hamas” “want to remain trapped in an endless cycle of violence, sacrificing their own interests.”
They emphasize that the goal “cannot simply be the end of the current struggle,” but “must be a peace that lasts for days, years and generations.”
“That is why we support a ceasefire, but only if it is sustainable,” they added.
The ministers called on Hamas to immediately release the hostages and warned that leaving them in Gaza “would be a permanent obstacle on the path to a two-state (Israeli and Palestinian) solution.”
Cameron and Baerbock emphasize three areas of action: first, they recognize Israel’s right to defend itself, but call for it to “respect international humanitarian law” because “too many civilians have already been killed.”
Secondly, “more aid must be provided to the Palestinians” and finally, the international community, and in particular the Arab countries, must work towards a solution that “provides long-term security for both peoples”.
In this sense, they call for an end to the violence of “extremist settlers in the West Bank” who are “trying to sabotage these efforts”, while in their view the Palestinians need a team of leaders who will give them “the government they to deserve”.
Source: DN
