While visiting two regional partners on Wednesday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy issued a warning, saying that nations “must not waver” in their efforts to bring about ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.
Lammy described the situation as “incredibly dangerous”. He will visit with UK military personnel currently stationed in the Middle East and hold talks with officials in Bahrain and Jordan.
London is concerned about “the risk of escalation and miscalculation” and he will “press for an end to the cycle of violence” there, the Foreign Office said.
Additionally, it added that Britain’s top diplomat will restate his nation’s repeated demands for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and for regional allies to press Iran and its proxies to exercise restraint.
“I am pleased to be back in the region to meet with our key partners in Bahrain and Jordan,” Lammy said in remarks released by the Foreign Office.
“We must not waver at this critical period to achieve ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, to get more desperately needed aid into Gaza, and secure the release of all hostages.”
Lammy noted the UK and the two Middle Eastern allies he will visit “share deep-rooted partnerships across defence, trade, and security, which I look forward to building upon”.
While in Bahrain, he will tour HMS Lancaster, a Royal Navy frigate, which is deployed there and been active patrolling Red Sea and Gulf waters to counter malign activities by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
According to the Foreign Office, he will also meet with “senior figures” in the nation and have discussions with Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi while in Jordan.
Alongside France’s foreign minister, Lammy visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories during his tour of the area in mid-August.
Since then, tensions have increased dramatically as Iran fired missiles at Israel, its arch-enemy, for the second time in six months on October 1, while Israel intensifies its ground attack against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
