Starmer to launch his peace plan for Palestine and Israel

Sir Keir Starmer is pushing ahead with a major Middle East peace initiative to bring a long-term solution to the IsraelPalestine conflict based on his experience in Northern Ireland.

- DAVID MADDOX

The Independent has learned that Downing Street and the Foreign Office held meetings last week with figures behind an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace. It follows a pledge made by the prime minister in December at the annual Labour Friends of Israel lunch that the UK would lead the G7 nations’ efforts with the fund to bring long-term peace to the Middle East.

Yesterday, Hamas released three more Israeli hostages as part of the ceasefire agreement, while Israel released 183 Palestinians. The initial six-week truce, which began on 19 January, is planned to see 33 hostages released in total, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees, many of whom have been held without charges, in some cases for years.

With the fragile ceasefire holding, sponsors of this peace initiative are keen to seize the opportunity to push forward with plans based on the near-identical programme that helped bring long-term peace to Northern Ireland.