Foreign Secretary Lammy meets with Israeli officials and hostage families via BICom

Foreign Secretary Lammy meets with Israeli officials and hostage families

What’s happened: Newly-appointed UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy yesterday continued his visit in Israel.

• After having met separately with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Palestinian leadership on Sunday, Lammy yesterday met separately with President Herzog and Foreign Minister Katz and with the families of UK hostages. He also visited Yad Vashem. With Herzog, Lammy met with the family of Tamir Adar, who was murdered in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7^th and whose body remains captive in Gaza.
• Welcoming Lammy to Israel, Herzog said, “I have great appreciation for the fact that one of your first trips is to this region and to Israel. I think the fact that you won in such a landslide enables the United Kingdom to move forward in a very dramatic way, and be involved in new frontiers and new horizons.”
• He added, on Iran: “We are at war with an empire of evil that wants to undermine the stability of the world and is rushing to the bomb, undermining international trade, blocking trade routes… And of course trying to surround Israel by its proxies from all over. That is why there is no more just war. We are a nation seeking peace, and I believe that we must find peace with our neighbours. I know that Britain sees it as a very important point and I hope you have a very productive visit."
• In response, Lammy replied “I hope that we see a hostage deal emerge in the coming days, and I am using all diplomatic efforts… I hope too, that we see a ceasefire soon, and we bring an alleviation to the suffering and the intolerable loss of life that we're now seeing also in Gaza. So it's in that spirit that I returned as Foreign Secretary, hoping to bring, and for the UK to do all it can to bring, peace and stability to this region, this most complex and challenging of regions at this time.”
• Foreign Minister Katz said on X (formerly Twitter): “I met today with the new UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy to discuss the war in Gaza, regional issues, and the urgent need to combat the Iranian threat. I told him that actions like the elimination of Mohammed Deif and continued military pressure on Hamas, along with a clear message from the UK and the world that any ceasefire is conditional on the release of all hostages, are the only ways to bring them home. We will continue to work together to strengthen the friendship between the UK and Israel.”

The south: Operations continue in Gaza. According to the IDF, “troops are continuing targeted, intelligence-based operational activity in the Rafah area. Over the past day, the troops eliminated terrorists in cooperation with the IAF [Israeli Air Force], dismantled tunnel shafts in the area, and struck Hamas terror infrastructure sites that posed a threat to the troops.”

• “Additionally, over the past day, IDF troops continued operational activity in the area of central Gaza and conducted targeted raids on terror targets in the area.”
• “Furthermore, over the past day, the IAF struck approximately 40 terror targets, including sniping posts, observation posts, Hamas military structures, terror infrastructure, and buildings rigged with explosives.”

The north: Yesterday, Hezbollah attacks continued, as they fired over 50 rockets at Kiryat Shmona and other northern Israeli communities.  Several rockets landed in Kiryat Shmona, causing damage but no reported casualties.

• At least three Hezbollah operatives were reportedly killed in IAF air strikes in southern Lebanon, while a Hezbollah commander was killed alongside a Syrian business with close connections to the Assad regime in an air strike in Syria close to the Lebanese border.
• According to the IDF, the IAF also struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Houla, Kfarkela, and Bani Haiyyan in southern Lebanon. In addition, IDF artillery struck in the areas of Blida, Deir Mimas, and Rmeish in order to remove a threat.
• The IDF also says that overnight, the IAF struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Houla, Kfarkela, and Bani Haiyyan in southern Lebanon.

Context: Lammy making Israel one of his first foreign visits since taking office is testament both to the strength and closeness of the Britain-Israel relationship and the UK’s continued concern over the fate of the hostages, and civilians affected by the war in Gaza.

• There is appreciation in Israel for Lammy visiting so soon, and for meeting with hostage families and keeping their plight high on the international agenda.
• Lammy’s Labour Party assumed office committed to a ceasefire in Gaza, the return of all Israeli hostages, and a renewed pursuit of a two state solution. Like his US counterparts, Lammy has also come out strongly against settler violence and settlement expansion in the West Bank.
• Recent reports have suggested that, contrary to previous suggestions, Labour will maintain the UK’s objection to the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor's application for arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including the prime minister.
• The concerns raised by Lammy are consistent with previous UK diplomatic perspectives, indicating that despite the change of government, UK policy has so far not shifted dramatically.
• The ongoing operations in Gaza come in parallel to an apparent split between Netanyahu, on the one hand, and Defence Minister Gallant and the security establishment, on the other, over how flexible Israel should be prepared to be to secure a hostage deal.
• Netanyahu is said to be insisting on Israel retaining control of the crucial Philadelphia corridor between Gaza and Egypt, and to preventing a return of northern Gazans to their former areas of residence.
• Reports suggest a possible compromise has been discussed in talks with Egyptian and other international mediators, allowing Israel to track and control the Philadelphia corridor without maintaining a physical presence there.
• 116 hostages kidnapped on October 7^th remain in captivity in Gaza: 102 men, 16 women, and 2 children. In addition to the 116 remaining, four other hostages are also in Gaza: two bodies, and two living hostages from three separate incidents in 2014. Israel will seek to have the two living hostages, Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengistu, included in any release.
• According to Israel at least 43 of the abductees are no longer alive and their bodies are being held by Hamas.
• Meanwhile, the continued assessment of IDF officials is that Hamas’s military chief of staff Mohammed Deif was killed in an air strike on Saturday morning.
• The action in the north continues weeks of intense Hezbollah fire on northern Israel, from where around 80,000 Israelis remain internally displaced and unable to return to their homes while the threat remains.
• While there are currently no signs of the diplomatic resolution for which American and French officials have worked for over nine months, the assessment remains that both Hezbollah and its Iranian patron are keen to maintain their war of attrition, but to keep it below the threshold of all-out war.
• However, recent attacks towards lower Galilee have increased concern over how deep into Israel Hezbollah’s fire is now reaching.
• On the diplomatic front, there remains hope that a successful hostage negotiation/ceasefire would also be respected by Hezbollah in the north .

Looking ahead: An additional Israeli delegation is set to depart for further hostage talks later this week.

• Israel remains on alert for possible retaliation to the strike on Deif, with officials vigilant against threats to Israeli targets around the world.