Britain’s new Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, told Reuters on Saturday that Britain wants a balanced position on the war in the Middle East and will use diplomatic efforts to ensure a ceasefire is reached and hostages held by Hamas are released.
Lammy, who replaced David Cameron following Labour's landslide victory in the UK general election held Thursday, told the news agency, "The time has come for the United Kingdom to reconnect with the outside world."
"I want to get back to a balanced position on Israel and Gaza. We've been very clear that we want to see a ceasefire ... We want to see those hostages out," added Lammy.
"The fighting has to stop, the aid has got to get in, and I will use all diplomatic efforts to ensure that we get to that ceasefire," he continued, without elaborating.
His comments come a day after he reiterated his support for international efforts to secure an "immediate ceasefire" in the Israel-Hamas war and for the release of remaining hostages.
"All of us recognize the agony of communities who have seen the scenes coming out of Israel and Gaza," Lammy said from the Foreign Office on Friday, according to AFP.
"But the job now is to get to work with tireless diplomacy to support an immediate ceasefire and move towards getting those hostages out," he added.
Lammy added that he will "do all I can diplomatically" to support US President Joe Biden's efforts to secure the ceasefire.
His predecessor, Cameron, last month called on Hamas to accept the new ceasefire deal outlined by President Joe Biden.