Israel’s cabinet set to approve ceasefire deal as at least 20 killed in strikes on Gaza – live updates

Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent

The Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said the UK government hopes Emily Demari, the one remaining hostage with British citizenship who is being held in Gaza, “will be freed in the coming days”.

“I was in Israel on Monday briefing hostage families connected to the UK, sitting with Mandy Damari, the mother of Emily Damari… briefing her on where these negotiations have got to,” Lammy said.

“This is a very, very tense time. And these are a tense few days as [familes] wait to see if their loved ones will emerge and whether they are alive or no longer and we wait patiently alongside them,” he continued.

The UK foreign secretary said “this is a day of hope after 466 days of agony and pain across the Middle East and across the global community”.

He added “this is the moment now to get the humanitarian aid in to support those many, many, many people who have found the last 14 months so horrendous, and of course, to begin the reconstruction.”

“I would want to emphasize this peace, that may now have been achieved, is very fragile. This is just phase one. We must move to phase two and three and a complete ceasefire, and the day after,” he said.

“And as you would expect, the United Kingdom will be playing a critical role, both in the humanitarian effort and in those steps to begin to rebuild Gaza, but to get to the two-state solution that will see wider peace between Israel and the Palestinian people.”