During Cameron's meeting with foreign ministers of Arab and Islamic countries (Anatolia)
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron met with his counterparts from Arab and Muslim countries in London on Wednesday to discuss the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, after announcing a 4-day truce that includes a prisoner exchange.
Cameron said in a statement that they discussed how to take advantage of the truce to move forward thinking about the future, and how to build a future that provides stability for the Palestinians and peace for Israel.
Cameron called for respect for the truce, which he saw as a key step towards providing relief to the families of Israeli prisoners and addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Cameron also reiterated Britain's condemnation of the increasing settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
A statement by the British Foreign Office said that the discussions of the meeting with Arab countries focused on the release of all prisoners held by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), increasing the volume of humanitarian aid to Gaza and finding a long-term political solution in Palestine.
The meeting between the British Foreign Office and the foreign ministers of Arab and Islamic countries also discussed ways to enhance diplomatic efforts for the two-state solution.
The meeting included the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, Turkey, Indonesia and Nigeria, as well as the Secretary-General of the Arab League and the Ambassador of Qatar.
They are part of a "peace committee" commissioned by the recent Arab-Islamic summit in Jeddah that began a tour of the capitals of the permanent members of the UN Security Council with the aim of building an international consensus to end the war on Gaza.
The peace committee had visited Beijing and Moscow before London and plans to visit Paris and Washington.
It is noteworthy that the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced – at dawn on Wednesday – reaching a humanitarian truce agreement in the Gaza Strip, the timing of which will be announced within 24 hours.
Source: Agencies