CAIRO, EGYPT | Britain's top diplomat David Cameron on Thursday called for a "sustainable ceasefire" in fighting between Israel and Hamas militants since early October, stressing to need "to get aid into Gaza".
"I want this conflict to end as soon as possible," the foreign secretary said at a news conference in Cairo, alongside his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, on the second day of a visit to the region.
The war between Israel and Hamas was triggered by the Palestinian armed group's attack on southern Israel on October 7 which killed around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Israel has responded with a withering ground and air war that the Hamas government of the Gaza Strip says has killed more than 20,000 people, mostly women and children.
"What we need is a sustainable ceasefire where Hamas is no longer able to threaten Israel with rockets and with terrorism, and where the fighting can stop and the talks about how we have a long-term solution" can take place, Cameron said.
"Everything that can be done must be done to get aid into Gaza, to help people in the desperate situation that they're in."
His visit comes as talks between Israel and Hamas on a potential truce were underway via foreign intermediaries.
Cameron, a former British prime minister, earlier on Thursday met with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, after a visit to Jordan.
Cairo is a long-standing mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and oversees the only border crossing into the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel at Rafah.
Egypt was among the countries that negotiated the release of around 100 hostages taken by militants on October 7 in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel during a one-week truce that collapsed in early December.
Cameron is due to travel later on Thursday to El-Arish, a coastal Egyptian town where aid destined for Gaza's 2.4 million residents is coordinated, Britain's foreign ministry said.
The foreign secretary also discussed during the press conference with Shoukry the spate of attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels against shipping in the Red Sea, which have intensified in recent weeks.
On Monday, the United States announced the formation of a multinational maritime coalition, including Britain, aimed at protecting the vital international trade route.
"It will be damaging to Egypt, damaging to Britain, damaging to the whole world if there are to be repeated attacks on shipping," Cameron said.
"We really must see an end to these threats."
