Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Britain’s Middle East Minister Tariq Ahmad is starting a regional security trip where the war in Gaza and Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping will top the agenda.
Lord Ahmad will start in Oman on Monday before moving to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
He will discuss regional peace and security, including the Gaza war, and mark the UK’s easing of visa requirements allowing Gulf nationals to apply for the Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme.
“We want to see an end to the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible, and it is clear that wider escalation and instability in the region is in nobody’s interests,” Lord Ahmad said.
“Our engagement with partners in the Middle East, including Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, is absolutely central to efforts towards achieving a sustainable, permanent ceasefire in Gaza and building wider regional security.”
He is expected to meet key figures including Saudi Arabia’s deputy foreign minister, the Secretary General of the Muslim World League, Dr Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al Issa, Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Al Yahya and Oman’s undersecretary for political affairs, Sheikh Khalifa Al Harthy.
-
The Israeli bombing of Khiam, a village near the southern Lebanese border with Israel. AFP -
Members of the Ghannam family check the damage to their home after an Israeli air strike hit the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. EPA -
Mourners at Abu Yousef Al Najjar Hospital, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters -
A rescuer puts out a fire after a car was hit by an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters -
At Al Najjar Hospital in Rafah, Palestinians mourn after identifying the bodies of relatives killed in overnight Israeli bombardment on the southern Gaza Strip. AFP -
Palestinian families take refuge at a school affiliated with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Daraj neighbourhood. Getty Images -
Palestinian-Irish plastic surgeon Ahmed El Mokhallalati checks in on a Palestinian man wounded in an Israeli strike, at the European Hospital, in Khan Younis. Reuters -
A Palestinian man carries a bag of flour, as displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, take shelter near the border with Egypt in Rafah. Reuters -
Palestinian woman Amal Abu Hashesh, who escaped with her prosthetic leg after her house was hit by an Israeli strike, takes shelter in the European Hospital. Reuters -
Palestinians gather around a Hamas police vehicle after it was struck by an Israeli air strike in Rafah. AP -
Mother of hostage Amit Esther Buskila holds a poster of her daughter during a press conference in Paris with representatives of families of French hostages held by Hamas. Reuters -
People dance as Israeli protesters gather to block the entry of humanitarian aid trucks to the Gaza Strip at the Kerem Shalom border crossing. AFP -
Smoke billows during Israeli bombardment in Rafah. AFP -
Palestinians move along Salah Al Din road after an Israeli air strike on Al Maghazi refugee camp. EPA -
Displaced children sit on wooden pallets, as displaced Palestinians take shelter in a tent camp near the border with Egypt in Rafah. Reuters -
An Israeli tank moves along the border with Gaza in southern Israel. Getty Images -
Displaced Palestinians near the border with Egypt in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters -
A man carried an injured Palestinian man to Al Aqsa Hospital after an Israeli air strike in Deir Al-Balah in southern Gaza. Bloomberg -
A Palestinian woman reacts after an Israeli air strike in Deir Al-Balah. Bloomberg -
Palestinians search the site of a destroyed residential building hit by an Israeli air strike in Deir Al-Balah. Bloomberg -
A soldier visits the site of the Nova festival, with displayed photos of the people who were killed and kidnapped during the October 7 attack near the site. Reuters -
A displaced Palestinian girl, who fled her house due to Israeli strikes, arranges plants on a grave in a cemetery where she shelters, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters
Lord Ahmad will discuss how to ease the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including through an immediate humanitarian pause in fighting leading to a sustainable, permanent ceasefire.
He will outline the British efforts to counter Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and make clear that the attacks by the Houthis are considered completely unacceptable.
In Oman, Lord Ahmad will co-chair with Sheikh Khalifa a session of the UK-Oman joint working group.
In Kuwait, he will co-chair the UK-Kuwait joint steering group alongside Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al Sabah, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In the past two weeks, Lord Ahmad has visited the UAE and Lebanon as the Gaza war rages and the humanitarian crisis worsens.
He will use the trip to promote the UK ETA scheme, which has opened for GCC and Jordanian nationals, making travel to the UK smoother and cheaper.
The scheme will allow unlimited visits to the UK over two years.
