The UK is to host an international summit on the recovery of Gaza, Downing Street has said, as Keir Starmer prepared to attend a multi-nation event in Egypt intended to finalise a truce in the Palestinian territory.
The prime minister will be among an estimated 20 national leaders, among them Donald Trump, who will gather in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, with Starmer saying the aim must be to ensure a lasting peace after two years of devastating loss of life.
As humanitarian groups geared up to send aid into Gaza, the UK has said that £20m in already-pledged aid will now be focused on water, sanitation and hygiene services. The funding will be delivered through Unicef, the World Food Programme and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The UK will also host a three-day conference organised by the Foreign Office’s Wilton Park agency, based in West Sussex, beginning on Monday afternoon.
The event will include representatives from the Palestinian Authority as well as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Germany and Italy. Other participants will include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank, and private sector and development financiers.
The discussions “will also cover efforts to support the Palestinian Authority’s own transformation and reform programme to ensure it can support Gaza’s recovery”, a Downing Street statement said, adding that while the process would be Palestinian-led, there was “absolutely no role for Hamas”.
In a comment at the summit in Egypt released in advance, Starmer said: “We stand determined to seize this opportunity to deliver a lasting peace, and a stable, secure future for the whole region.
“Today is the first, crucial phase of ending this war and now we must deliver the second phase, in full.
“The UK will support the next stage of talks to ensure the full implementation of the peace plan, so that people on both sides can rebuild their lives in safety and security.”
Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, said: “The UK has worked intensively with international partners in recent months to create the momentum that has led to President Trump’s peace initiative, and to support the ceasefire that is now in place, but we now need to work with the same intensity and urgency to develop a plan for Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction.
“Gaza has been completely devastated. The ceasefire gives us the opportunity not just to urgently scale up humanitarian efforts but also to look to the future of Gaza’s recovery. Rubble must be cleared, infrastructure repaired, healthcare restored and homes rebuilt.”
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said: “We know that we need to see a viable Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel. That’s the government’s position. That’s what we want to continue to be involved in making happen and why the prime minister, Keir Starmer, is tomorrow travelling to Egypt.”
Asked what part the UK had played in the ceasefire, she said: “We do have a role, but of course, the role of the US has been critical in this. We can all recognise that.”
Speaking later to the BBC, Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, said: “I think we have to be honest at the fact that Britain has had no role, no role whatsoever.”
She added: “I think it’s extraordinary that Keir Starmer apparently is going to Egypt tomorrow when we’ve got plenty of domestic issues that he should be resolving and sorting out.”
