UK keen on Gaza peace role as minister visits UAE and Saudi Arabia

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps heads to the Middle East as Britain urges restraint from Israeli military

Britain's Defence Secretary Grant Shapps will hold talks with regional leaders on the situation in Israel and Gaza. EPA

Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza

Britain’s Defence Secretary Grant Shapps will hold talks in the Middle East on Wednesday as the UK tries to prevent an escalation of the Israel-Gaza conflict and seize an opportunity to push for peace in the region.

Mr Shapps will discuss the crisis with regional leaders on a visit to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, keeping up a flurry of British diplomacy after Middle East trips by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.

Reporting back to his cabinet, Mr Sunak told ministers he was “struck by the desire for the UK to continue playing a leading role in seeking de-escalation” of the conflict, Downing Street said.

Britain has declined to call for a ceasefire or ask Israel to delay an expected ground offensive in Gaza, amid doubts whether any such pause would be respected by Hamas.

The UK has told Israel’s armed forces to show “professionalism and restraint” in what Mr Cleverly said would be an “important part of preventing this becoming a regional conflict”.

Mr Cleverly said he had received assurances from Israel’s President Isaac Herzog that its military would respect international law, but that Hamas had given no such undertaking.

He accused Hamas of consciously putting civilians in harm’s way to generate fatalities “which they then use as part of their media operations”. Britain has seen evidence of Palestinians being prevented from leaving conflict zones, he said.

Royal Navy vessels will remain in the region to “help avoid the possibility of regional escalation”, Mr Sunak said. It was separately confirmed on Tuesday that at least 12 British nationals have died in the violence, with five missing.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met a series of regional leaders including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit to the Middle East last week. AFP

Mr Cleverly said it was “incredibly difficult” to secure the release of hostages because the UK has no direct lines of communication with Hamas, which it considers a terrorist group. Qatar has been playing the role of mediator.

The conflict triggered by Hamas’s surprise October 7 attack on Israel has reinvigorated calls for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, with the crisis seen in Britain as an opportunity to revive the peace process.

“Despite the terrible circumstances we are currently experiencing, there is a renewed desire to have a meaningful resolution that means those circumstances that we saw, the terrible images we saw on 7 October, can and will never be repeated,” said Mr Cleverly.

Asked about a possible expansion of the Abraham Accords in which Israel normalised ties with the UAE and Bahrain, Mr Cleverly described them as a “force for good” that “we need to protect, and ideally enhance”.

“Anything which sees greater co-operation between Israel and the Arab world has got to be a step in the right direction when it comes to the creation of that sustainable two-state solution,” he said.

However, he said there was a “realistic belief” that part of Hamas’s goal in attacking Israel was to “derail future normalisation and negotiations”. He said Britain “must not let them win in that endeavour”.

The latest from the Israel-Gaza war – in pictures

Palestinians look for survivors of Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at Nusseirat refugee camp. AP

A survivor is found in the rubble in Nusseirat. AP

A man is given oxygen and pulled from the rubble in Nusseirat. AP

This desperate search for survivors is being replicated across the Gaza Strip. AP

Yocheved Lifshitz speaks to the media outside a Tel Aviv hospital after being released by Hamas. EPA

Israeli women who were held hostage by Palestinian Hamas militants, Yocheved Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper (also known as Nurit Yitzhak), are released by the militants. Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron before their talks in Jerusalem. AP

Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli air strike on a house in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

Palestinians inspect the damage of a destroyed house that was hit by an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis. AP

Ms Cooper and Ms Lifshitz arrive at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre after being released by Hamas on Monday. AFP

A woman cries next to the rubble of a building after Israeli strikes on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. AFP

Wateen, a 14-month-old Palestinian baby, who was wounded in an Israeli strike that killed her mother and injured her twin brother Ahmed, recovers at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. Reuters

A Palestinian girl clutches salvaged books as people look for survivors in the rubble of a destroyed building hit in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis. AFP

People mourn during the funeral of members of the Abu Morad family who died following Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis. AFP

A wounded Palestinian man arrives at Nasser Medical Complex, following Israeli air strikes on the town of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. AP

Red Crescent Society employees sort humanitarian aid bound for Palestinians in Gaza, at a warehouse in Arish, Egypt. EPA

Ayman Abou Chamalah stands next to his daughter Mecca as she receives care inside an incubator at a hospital in Rafah. AFP

Israeli soldiers carry the coffin of Erik Kraunik, chief of security in the kibbutz of Be'eri, during his funeral at a cemetery in Yehud, Israel. AP

A man sits among the rubble of a building destroyed in Israel's bombardment of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

A Red Crescent worker sorts aid for Palestinians in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the blockaded enclave. Reuters

Israeli soldiers take part in a drill near the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion. EPA

Men fill fuel containers with drinking water in Rafah. AFP

Smoke billows over Gaza after an air strike, as seen from southern Israel. AP

A person holds a child as Palestinians gather in Khan Younis at the site of a house destroyed during an Israeli bombardment. Reuters

Israeli soldiers sit on top of a tank near the border with Gaza. Getty Images

Buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis. Reuters

Palestinians are evacuated from a building in Rafah that was hit during Israel's bombardment. AP

Shahar Idan, 9, mourns during the funeral of his brother Maayan, 18, who was killed by Hamas gunmen in the kibbutz of Nahal Oz. His father Tzahi is being held hostage in Gaza. Reuters

Palestinian doctors treat a premature baby at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah, Gaza. AP

Rescue crews search for bodies after Hamas militants attacked the kibbutz of Be'eri in Israel. Getty Images

Lorries carrying humanitarian aid head to Deir Al Balah after crossing from Egypt through Rafah. Bloomberg

Palestinians evacuate survivors in Deir Al Balah after an Israeli bombardment. AP

Smoke rises after Israeli air strikes on Gaza. EPA

Israeli soldiers at a position along the border with Lebanon. EPA

A woman leans against the window of an ambulance outside Kuwait Hospital after an Israeli strike in Rafah. AFP

A Palestinian cries as the body of his daughter is recovered from beneath the rubble of a building destroyed during an Israeli air strike on Rafah. AFP

A convoy carrying humanitarian aid arrives in Rafah after crossing into the Gaza Strip from Egypt. Bloomberg

The pictures of more than 1,000 people abducted or killed during the attack by Hamas militants are displayed on empty seats at Tel Aviv University. Getty

Palestinians are evacuated from buildings in Rafah after the bombardment of the Gaza Strip. AP

Israeli soldiers gather at an undisclosed location near the border with Gaza. EPA

Palestinians mourn outside a house in Gaza struck by Israel. Reuters

A bullet-riddled fridge in a house in the kibbutz of Kissufim in southern Israel, where 14 people were killed and four were abducted by Hamas militants on October 7. AP

Football fans inside Anfield stadium hold up Palestine flags during the Liverpool-Everton derby on Saturday. Reuters

Palestinians wounded in the bombardment of Gaza are taken to Al Asa Hospital in Deir Al Balah. AP

Rescuers search for victims and survivors in buildings destroyed by air strikes in Khan Younis, Gaza. Getty

Residents of Tel Aviv show support for the families of hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas. Reuters

Britain has sought to isolate Hamas by emphasising it does not speak for the Palestinian cause and saying there is “no scenario” in which it could maintain its hold on power in a peace agreement.

Downing Street said Mr Sunak and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas jointly “stressed that Hamas do not represent the Palestinian people” when they met in Egypt last week.

Mr Sunak also held talks with the leaders of Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia during his trip to the region. Mr Cleverly and Middle East Minister Lord Tariq Ahmad attended a peace summit in Cairo at the weekend.

Mr Shapps previously visited the UAE and Saudi Arabia in January, when he led the now-defunct Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. He took on the defence brief in August.