UK Foreign Secretary: The war in Gaza is intolerable, an immediate ceasefire is needed'

Britain’s new Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as he made a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, The Associated Press reported.

Lammy said the ongoing war in Gaza is “intolerable” and stressed in meetings with Israeli and PA leadership that Britain wants to assist with diplomatic efforts “securing a ceasefire deal and creating the space for a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution.”

Lammy met in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and in Ramallah with PA chairman President Mahmoud Abbas.

He is scheduled to meet President Isaac Herzog on Monday. During his visit, Lammy will also meet with families of hostages currently being held in Gaza who have ties to the U.K.

Lammy demanded Israel halt “settlement expansion” in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, and said that the Palestinian Authority needs to be “reformed and empowered.”

Lammy, who replaced David Cameron following Labour's landslide victory in the recent UK general election, reiterated after being named to the role his support for international efforts to secure an "immediate ceasefire" in the Israel-Hamas war and for the release of remaining hostages.

He later told Reuters that Britain wants a balanced position on the war in the Middle East and will use diplomatic efforts to ensure a ceasefire is reached and hostages held by Hamas are released.