Starmer contradicts Trump on president’s calls for Middle East ‘Riviera’ in Gaza
Sir Keir Starmer has contradicted President Donald Trump’s stance on Gaza, saying that Gazans “must be allowed to rebuild” as part of a two-state solution.
The prime minister was asked about the president’s surprise announcement by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey during Prime Minister’s Questions.
Sir Keir’s stance came following comments from Foreign Secretary David Lammy who also distanced himself from Mr Trump.
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Mr Trump said he wanted to remove Palestinians from Gaza and turn it into a “Riviera” of the Middle East.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Sir Keir said: “The most important issue on the ceasefire is obviously [that] it’s sustained, we see it through the phases.
“And that means that the remaining hostages come out, and that aid that’s desperately needed gets into Gaza at speed and at the volumes that are needed.
“I have from the last few weeks, two images fixed in my mind: The first is the image of Emily Damari reunited with her mother, which I found extremely moving.
“The second was the image of thousands of Palestinians walking – literally walking – through the rubble to try to find their homes and their communities in Gaza.
“They must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild. And we should be with them in that rebuild, on the way to a two-state solution.”
Speaking at a press conference later in the day Reform leader Nigel Farage struck a different tone to the prime minister and praised what he called the US president’s “ambition” for Gaza.
He told Sky News’ political correspondent Ali Fortescue: “The thought of a wealthy, wonderful, thriving place with well-paid jobs, casinos, nightlife, I think, sounds very appealing to me.”
During PMQS Sir Keir was also asked by Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice if funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East [UNRWA] would be suspended, after Ms Damari revealed she was kept prisoner by Hamas in the UN agency’s facilities.
Mr Trump recently suspended funding to UNRWA, and the previous Conservative government did the same.
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Israel has banned UNRWA from occupied East Jerusalem and Israel itself, having accused the agency of having close links to Hamas in Gaza – something the agency denies.
The Reform MP asked: “Will the prime minister agree with me that we should stop funding Hamas, follow the example of other nations and divert our aid to other, more trustworthy agencies?”
In response, Sir Keir said he had spoken to Ms Damari’s mother on many occasions, “including when she didn’t know whether her daughter was alive or not”.
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The prime minister added: “But to be absolutely clear, and he knows this, we’re not funding Hamas – we never will.
“We condemn Hamas, And everybody in this house should condemn Hamas.”