Press release

Joint statement on the resumption of hostilities in the Gaza strip

Joint statement issued by Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, Laurent Fabius, Foreign Minister of France and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Foreign Minister of Germany.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government
Foreign & Commonwealth Office

Statement:

We are very concerned by the resumption of hostilities in the Gaza strip.

We call upon all parties immediately to return to a cease-fire. We fully support the ongoing efforts by Egypt to this end.

All parties should take immediate practical steps to address the urgent humanitarian needs including to facilitate full humanitarian access.

We are ready to support the establishment of a sustainable ceasefire and have already made proposals to this end. We will work further with all our partners on this issue. To be sustainable, a ceasefire must envisage steps to address both Israeli security concerns and Palestinian requirements regarding the lifting of restrictions on Gaza.

The final objective must be to see a return to talks on a negotiated two-state solution, which remains the only way to resolve the conflict and end the human suffering it causes once and for all.

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Published 9 August 2014