Keir Starmer calls on Israel and Hezbollah to agree a ceasefire

Prime Minster Keir Starmer has called for Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a ceasefire, saying ‘escalation serves no one’. In his opening address to the United Nations General Assembly, Sir Keir urged the two sides to ‘step back from the brink’.

It follows a devastating few days which has seen Israel pounding suspected Hezbollah positions across Lebanon in a series of missile strikes that threatens to plunge the Middle East into ‘all-out’ war. The PM’s message to UN leaders comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned his nation’s military would continue with their onslaught ‘fighting at full force’ – as he rejected talks of a ceasefire between the two sides. 

Sir Keir warned fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has the potential to spill into a wider war ‘that no one can control’. ‘I call on Israel and Hezbollah. Stop the violence. Step back from the brink,’ he told leaders during his speech in New York. ‘We need to see an immediate ceasefire to provide space for a diplomatic settlement and we are working with all partners to that end.’

He warned the alternative is ‘more suffering for innocent people on all sides and the prospect of a wider war that no one can control and with consequences that none of us can foresee’. Sir Keir also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages held by Hamas. Addressing the humanitarian crisis, he said: ‘It shames us all that the suffering in Gaza continues to grow. The answer is diplomacy; the release of all the hostages and the unfettered flow of aid to those in need. That is the only way to break this devastating cycle of violence and begin the journey towards a political solution for the long-term which delivers the long-promised Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel.’ He added: ‘The world cannot look away.’

Sir Keir called for the UN to be reformed and strengthened, saying the war in Ukraine was a test for the organisation. He said the UK would ‘stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes’. ‘Because the alternative would be to confirm the worst claims about this place. That international law is merely a paper tiger and that aggressors can do what they will. We will never let that happen.’ Sir Keir’s speech was intended to show that under his premiership the UK would offer ‘responsible global leadership’.

He announced a new British International Investment initiative, working with the City of London to use billions of pounds from pension and insurance funds ‘to invest in boosting development and fighting climate change’. Sir Keir also called for a new international levy on global shipping to ‘put a price on the true cost of emissions’ with the money raised going to tackle climate change. The Prime Minister also demanded changes to the UN Security Council ‘to become a more representative body’ which was ‘willing to act – not paralysed by politics’. That would involve permanent African representation on the body.

The existing five permanent members – the UK, US, France, China and Russia – should be joined by Brazil, India, Japan and Germany, he said. And he promised a change in the way the UK acted too: ‘Moving from the paternalism of the past towards partnership for the future. Listening a lot more – speaking a bit less.’

Sir Keir’s plea comes a day after Joe Biden sounded a warning that the Middle East is now on the brink of ‘all-out war’. The president joined pleas for de-escalation from international leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, adding that he thinks the opportunity remains ‘to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region’.

Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron met on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss new ceasefire proposals. Macron had earlier told the UN that there ‘must not be war in Lebanon’, adding that he would send his foreign minister to the former French administration by the end of the week.

France pressed the UN security council to hold an emergency session on the matter soon. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also urged Israel and Hezbollah to step back, saying all-out war would be disastrous for the region and its people.

Netanyahu’s spokesperson David Mencer said that while ‘we favour a diplomatic solution… we have tried… for eleven and a half months’. ‘Yesterday our president described the US diplomat [involved in negotiations] as talented but with all his talent he hasn’t been able to negotiate any sort of climbdown from Hezbollah,’ he said.

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