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WATCH IN FULL: Keir Starmer issues statement on Middle East after Gaza peace summit
Oct 14, 2025
The Prime Minister has told the House of Commons that while the "killing and destruction has now stopped" the UK is calling for more aid to enter Gaza.Sir Keir Starmer said the Government "is providing £20million in additional humanitarian support" to get necessary products into Gaza.WATCH ABOVE.
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Their children need extra protection
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We must also be crystal clear that while this was an attack on Jews because they were Jews
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the Islamist extremism that motivated this sick individual is a threat to every citizen of this country
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An attack on British values, British security and the British decency that holds our communities together
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Moreover, Mr Speaker, we can see clearly that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Britain once again
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Say we will scale up the protection we provide for Jewish people
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We will set out new measures to prevent hatred abusing the democratic right to protest
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We will stop at nothing to root out anti-Semitism. And Mr Speaker, the same applies to the arson attack on the Peacehaven Mosque
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An attack on British Muslims is also an attack on us all
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So we condemn this despicable crime and the poison of anti-Muslim hatred
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We will fight against hate in all its forms. Mr Speaker, let me now turn to the Middle East
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and words I have longed to say in this House for a very long time
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The surviving hostages are free. The bombardment of Gaza has stopped. And desperately needed aid is starting to enter
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As a result of the peace plan led by President Trump, we have the chance, and it is a chance
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to bring a terrible chapter in history finally to a close. Mr Speaker, it's a moment of profound relief
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for this house, for this nation, indeed for the whole world. But it is tempered, of course, by the knowledge
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that for the hostages and their families, for the loved ones of those killed on October 7th
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and for the innocent civilians in Gaza the dead the bereaved the starving This has been two years of living hell I think of Avinathan Orr who has family ties to the United Kingdom returned at last to his family
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and to his girlfriend Noah. Avinathan and Noah were taken from that music festival two years ago
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the footage of their abduction, filmed by Hamas, evil, committed to camera. I have met
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Amin Atan's family and heard for myself the agony that they suffered for two long years
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waiting for him to come home. His frail condition, shocking evidence of the appalling treatment
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he must have endured. Mr Speaker, we await the release of the deceased hostages. Those
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families need the chance to grieve. And so we demand that they return to their families
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immediately. Mr Speaker, my thoughts are also with the people of Gaza, almost all of whom
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will have lost family members – husbands, wives, brothers, sisters. And of course, worst
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of all, sons and daughters. Over 20,000 children killed. I think of people like Yara Yagi
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who I met a year ago, 17 years old. She was studying at college in Hertfordshire. She
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had lost 44 members of her family. Forty-four. A pain that cannot be erased even as we welcome
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the peace today. But Mr Speaker, mercifully the killing and destruction has now stopped
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and aid is beginning to enter Gaza. But to be clear, we urgently need to see more aid
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and faster. All restrictions must now be lifted. The need for food, sanitation, health care
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and shelter are still acute. While the signing yesterday was historic, what matters now is
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implementation and getting help in as quickly as possible The UK is providing million in additional humanitarian support to get water sanitation and hygiene products to tens of thousands of civilians across Gaza
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That is in addition to the support that we are already providing. Our two field hospitals in Gaza have already seen 600,000 patients
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And earlier this month, Mr Speaker, we evacuated the third group of sick and injured Palestinian
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children to the United Kingdom, and they are now being treated by the NHS
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And we will work with the UN and our partners to go further and faster to provide the aid
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that is so desperately needed. And Mr Speaker, let no one be any doubt that none of this would have been possible without
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President Trump. This is his peace deal, delivered, of course, with President Sisi of Egypt, the
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Emir of Qatar and President Erdogan of Tafia. Alongside our partners, we have also offered
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the UK's full support to these efforts. Mr Speaker, we have worked behind the scenes
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for months with the US, Arab and European nations to help deliver a ceasefire, get the
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hostages out, aid in and secure a better future for Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. I am proud
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of our contribution. We are in a position to play this role precisely because of the approach this Government takes
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That does include our decision to recognise the State of Palestine. Because this move, taken alongside our allies, France, Canada, Australia and others, helped
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lead to the historic New York declaration, where for the first time the entire Arab League
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condemned the atrocities of October 7, urged Hamas to disarm and crucially demanded that
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that they end their rule in Gaza. Amen. But Mr Speaker, let me be very clear
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While we celebrate the relief of peace today making that peace last will be no less difficult a task Along with our allies our absolute focus in the days and weeks ahead is the
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relentless implementation of this peace plan. That is no small challenge and so
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we stand ready to deploy our diplomacy and expertise in three key areas. First
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First, to support the reconstruction of Gaza. It is an immense task. The devastation defies
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description and it will require a truly international effort. But we are ready to play our part
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starting with a conference here in the United Kingdom this week, hosted by my honourable
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friend the Minister for the Middle East. Second, to support transitional governance arrangements
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in Gaza. We will continue to work closely with the Palestinian Authority on the vital
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reforms that they need to make. And third, to help ensure security in Gaza through a
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ceasefire monitoring process, planning for the International Stabilisation Force. And, Mr Speaker, drawing on our experience in Northern Ireland, we stand ready to play a full role
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in the decommissioning of Hamas weapons and capability. Because, as this House knows
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there can be no viable future for Gaza, no security for Israel, if Hamas can still threaten
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bloodshed and terror. So we will work to put that threat out of action for good
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Because, Mr Speaker, this is the first real chance we have had at a two-state solution
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since the Oslo Accords over three decades ago. So we are fully committed to this, because a safe and secure Israel, alongside a viable
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Palestinian state, is the only way to secure lasting peace for the Middle East
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And I have been clear all along, Mr Speaker, that must be our goal
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So we will work now to follow through on the 20-point peace plan and deliver it in full
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including by supporting a dialogue to agree on a political horizon for peaceful coexistence
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