Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy is visiting Bahrain and Jordan on Wednesday, where he will push calls for de-escalation in the Gaza war that is threatening to also engulf Lebanon.
His visit comes just after the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, and amid fears that Israel’s military is expanding its ground operation in Lebanon.
He will stress the importance of working with regional partners and demand that Iran and its proxies stop attacks which are causing chaos and destruction for the region and its people.
“The situation is incredibly dangerous and further escalation or miscalculation in the region is in no one’s interests,” Mr Lammy said.
“I am pleased to be back in the region to meet with our key partners in Bahrain and Jordan and see first-hand our combined efforts towards building long-term security and stability in the Middle East.
“We must not waver at this critical period to achieve ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, to get more desperately needed aid into Gaza, and secure the release of all hostages.
“Our nations share deep-rooted partnerships across defence, trade, and security, which I look forward to building upon.”
Mr Lammy is expected to discuss efforts to bring security and stability to the Middle East and reiterate the UK’s call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.
The UK Government has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and de-escalation as the Gaza war spread to include greater Israeli operations in Lebanon and attacks by Iran. While in Bahrain, Mr Lammy will meet British armed forces personnel who are helping to maintain security in the Gulf, including commercial shipping in the Red Sea which has come under fire from Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. In Jordan, he will meet senior leaders, including Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and express the UK’s support for the country’s role in delivering much needed humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza.
On Monday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack on Israel and urged the region to “step back from the brink” and find a political solution to the crisis.
Mr Lammy is also expected to discuss trade with his regional counterparts as the government prepares to host a major international investment summit on October 14. In Bahrain he will tour HMS Lancaster, which has been operating in the region since 2022.
Bahrain hosts a permanent support base for the Royal Navy, known as HMS Juffair, which was opened in 2018.
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Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
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- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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