US envoy praises “vital” UK role in Gaza ceasefire
The US Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, praised the “vital role” the UK played in securing a ceasefire in Gaza on October 13th, according to the Middle East Eye.
Witkoff, who was involved in discussing post-war Gaza plans with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on August 27th, wrote on X, saying, “I would like to acknowledge the vital role of the United Kingdom in assisting and coordinating efforts that have led us to this historic day in Israel.”
These comments came after Mike Huckabee, the US Ambassador to Israel, called the UK Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson “delusional” after she said on October 12th, “We’ve played a key role behind the scenes in shaping this.”
She added, “These are complex matters of diplomacy that we are involved in, but we do welcome and recognise the critical role that the American government played in getting us to this point.”
Huckabee previously criticised other Western nations for pledging to recognise a Palestinian state and condemning Israeli settlement expansion, saying on August 22nd that “It is not a violation of international law for Israelis to live in Judea and Samaria.”
“Judea and Samaria” is the Biblical term for the Occupied West Bank, which Israel has long sought to settle as a part of the so-called “Greater Israel” plan, which Huckabee has long been an advocate of, where Israel would expand its borders into the occupied Palestinian territories, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and parts of Jordan and Syria.
Israel’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sharren Haskel, also pushed back on Phillipson’s claims regarding the UK’s role in securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
She said: “With the declaration of the Palestinian state during a very sensitive time two months ago, when the teams were already around the table negotiating, when we truly believe we are able to reach a deal, the message that the UK Government sent Hamas was the message that: The longer they continue this war, they will be rewarded.”
The claim that recognising a Palestinian state would embolden Hamas was also raised by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on September 15th, despite the concerns being dismissed by the UK government on July 29th.
A critic of UK policy towards Israel, Haskel, who wore a bulletproof vest as she addressed crowds in Manchester on October 5th, in the aftermath of the Manchester synagogue attack on October 2nd, said that she was “not safe on your [Britain’s] streets.”
Heskel told the crowd that she was “not allowed to be here [in the UK] without” the bulletproof vest, suggesting that the UK is not a safe place for Jewish people.
Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.org
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