Britain will host the first summit of the International Fund for Israeli-Palestine Peace, bringing together aid groups and charities from both sides of the conflict.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will host the meeting in March next year at Lancaster House in London.
The event is intended to help build peace between the two sides in the Gaza conflict. More than 73,600 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 Israelis died.
“The goal of the meeting is to try to forge a stronger peace deal in the Middle East,” Ms Cooper said. She added that the fund would be “at the heart of the plans” for reconciliation.
It is also hoped that the conference will be a first step towards building trust to begin discussions towards a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict, something the UK government has consistently advocated.
“This conference will be a crucial step in that journey, bringing together representatives of Palestinian and Israeli civil society to build common ground between their communities, challenge entrenched divisions, and work towards a future where both states can live side by side in peace and security,” Ms Cooper said.
The fund would provide “practical support” to push the peace process forward following the fragile October ceasefire in Gaza, she added. It is hoped that grassroots initiatives will reduce violence, build trust and create the conditions for peace despite the devastation in Gaza and the illegal occupation of the West Bank.
The fund will provide support for initiatives that help shift public attitudes and lead to changes in society that political agreements alone cannot achieve, said the Alliance for Middle East Peace (Allmep), a coalition of more than 180 Palestinian and Israeli organisations working to build peace.
Experience from resolved conflicts shows that turning a temporary truce into lasting peace “requires sustained engagement with the communities directly affected”, Allmep added in its statement.
“This reflects a growing understanding that lasting peace has to be built by Palestinians and Israelis themselves,” said Nivine Sandouka, Allmep's regional director. “It's an important step towards giving civil society the support and diplomatic centrality needed to scale our efforts at a crucial moment for our region.”
New polling shows that 84 per cent of Britons support the fund’s creation, which will include a £5 million ($6.6 million) contribution from the UK government. That is also reflected in international polling in which 88 per cent of respondents supported their country joining international peace efforts.
The announcement fulfils a pledge made last year by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, following a meeting with Ibrahim Abu Ahmed and Barak Talmor from Allmep.
