Starmer to Recall Cabinet Over Gaza and Urge Trump to Harden Stance With Israel

Keir Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break for an emergency meeting on the Gaza crisis this week as cross-party MPs warned his talks with Donald Trump provided a critical juncture in helping to resolve the conflict.

- Pippa Crerar

Amid growing international horror over the situation on the ground in Gaza, the prime minister will urge the US president to take a tougher stance towards Israel and will push for ceasefire talks to resume, when they meet in Scotland today.

David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, is also preparing to attend a UN conference on a two-state solution in New York this week at which the pathway to formally recognising a Palestinian state will be under discussion.

Government sources insisted that formal recognition of Palestinian statehood was a matter of "when, not if", with the Labour government under intense domestic pressure to take further action as UK public opinion hardens.

Downing Street sources said the government would set out its next steps to help resolve the situation in the Middle East in the coming days, but gave scant details, risking further criticism of Starmer.

Government sources insisted he was "unequivocal" in his concern over the scenes in Gaza and was "horrified" at images of starvation, desperation and suffering of children and babies, as he called his cabinet back to Westminster this week.

During his talks with Trump at his Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire, Starmer is expected to press the US president to use his influence over the Israeli government to push for a resumption of peace talks between Israel and Hamas, after talks ground to a standstill.

The deal under discussion was expected to include a 60-day ceasefire, with aid supplies ramped up as conditions for a lasting truce were brokered, but the US and Israel withdrew their negotiation teams from Qatar last week.