No 10 appeals for ‘calm heads’ in Middle East as region teeters on brink of war

Downing Street said the UK’s priority was to avoid further escalation as Israel marked the one-year anniversary of the October 7 atrocities.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy with members of the Jewish community (Dan Kitwood/PA) (PA Wire)

The UK pleaded for “calm heads and restraint” in the Middle East on the anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel which triggered a wave of violence across the region.

Downing Street’s appeal for de-escalation came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighs up how to respond to last week’s ballistic missile attack by Iran, and while violence continued between Israel and the Tehran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah groups.

There are international concerns that a miscalculation in the exchanges of fire between Israel, Iran and its proxies could trigger a wider regional war.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: “Our priority is in preventing further escalation in the Middle East, and our focus is on working with allies to press for a diplomatic solution.

“All-out war is in nobody’s interest, and we continue to call for calm heads and restraint.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel was a moment of “deep reflection and pain”.

Visiting the South Tottenham synagogue in his own parliamentary constituency on Monday, the Foreign Secretary paid tribute to the Jewish community across the country.

He echoed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s description of the Hamas surprise assault last year, in which 1,200 people were killed, as  “the worst attack on the Jewish community since the Holocaust”.

The anniversary comes against a backdrop of escalating violence in the Middle East, as the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office helped hundreds of people to leave Lebanon in recent days.

Mr Lammy told reporters on Monday: “This  is a painful day for the Jewish community across this country and across the diaspora.”

He added: “It is a day of deep reflection and pain thinking about October 7, the worst attack on the Jewish community since the Holocaust.

“And of course, thinking about the many hostages that are still held in Gaza and their loved ones and their pain.

“And particularly we think of Emily Damari, the British hostage, and her family have no word of her fate or how she is doing.”

In a statement marking the anniversary, Sir Keir had reflected on the killings and reiterated his appeal for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed nearly 42,000 people.

“Men, women, children and babies killed, mutilated and tortured by the terrorists of Hamas,” the Prime Minister said.

“Jewish people murdered whilst protecting their families, young people massacred at a music festival, people abducted from their homes.

“As a father, a husband, a son, a brother, meeting the families of those who lost their loved ones last week was unimaginable.

“Their grief and pain are ours, and it is shared in homes across the land.

This is a painful day for the Jewish community across this country and across the diaspora

Foreign Secretary David Lammy

“A year on, that collective grief has not diminished or waned.”

He said that “we must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community and unite as a country” and “never look the other way in the face of hate”.

Sir Keir also said that “we must also not look the other way as civilians bear the ongoing dire consequences of this conflict in the Middle East”, as he reiterated his calls for ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon and “for the removal of all restrictions on humanitarian aid into Gaza”.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said on Sunday that the UK has “helped over 430 people to leave Lebanon” over the last week.

British nationals who remain in Lebanon are being advised to register their presence to receive up-to-date information, and to take the “next available commercial flight”.

After October 7, Israel launched one of the deadliest and most destructive offensives in recent years in Gaza, with the stated aim of wiping out Hamas.

The UK has suspended some arms export licences to Israel amid concerns that they could be used to breach international law in the enclave.

Critics have said the move does not go far enough, but ministers have resisted backing a full embargo.

The Defence Secretary on Monday refused to support French President Emmanuel Macron’s appeal for a halt on arms deliveries to Israel for use in Gaza.

Asked whether he agreed with Mr Macron’s position, John Healey told Sky News: “No, we work a different system.

“We as a Government don’t supply anything directly to Israel, but where there are export licences that have a clear risk that may breach international law, then we’ve suspended those licences where they could affect the lives in Gaza.”

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said Israel has “a duty to destroy Hamas”, when it was put to him the country has gone beyond defence and is now in offence.

Speaking on LBC, he said: “They’re an evil terrorist organisation.”