Foreign Secretary hails Trump’s ‘very serious’ Gaza peace plan as she backs Blair's role in 'Board of Peace'
Yvette Cooper told Tonight With Andrew Marr the Government strongly supports the US initiative
The Foreign Secretary has told LBC Donald Trump’s proposed peace deal for Gaza is a “very serious” plan that could help "end the war and suffering" - as she backed former prime minister Tony Blair having a role in the transitional peace board.
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Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr, Yvette Cooper hailed the proposed deal as a "really important" moment in peace negotiations.
Mr Trump announced the plan alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night - and they have given Hamas "three to four days" to accept it.
Mr Trump’s plan states that, if both sides agree, there will be an immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces to “the agreed upon line”, and the release of all the hostages, followed by the release of Palestinian prisoners and a surge of aid into Gaza.
"I think this is a very serious plan. We strongly support the US initiative to get an end to the war and suffering in Gaza,” Ms Cooper told LBC.
Ms Cooper added: “We need a ceasefire, we need the hostages released and also the restoration of humanitarian aid.
"But this is only going to be possible if we've also got a proper plan for a just and lasting peace. So we've put forward proposals, Arab states have been putting forward proposals.“
Read more: In full: Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza
But critics have raised concerns it offers no guarantee of a Palestinian state – which comes after Britain UK officially recognised the state of Palestine in an attempt to bring about a two-state solution to the war in Gaza.
However, Ms Cooper pointed out that “the plan set out by President Trump does include statehood for Palestine as part of it.”
She added: “The UK government has talked about a two-state solution, but only recognised one state. That's changed now.
“We have made the historic decision to recognise the state of Palestine. And interestingly, I think it's that process around recognition is also what then helped to get the Arab League and Arab countries to then agree that Hamas must play no role in the future of Palestine or of Gaza. So these things have been part of contributing to where we've got to now. There is a long way to go, though."
The Foreign Secretary added that she was open to the prospect of former Prime Minister Tony Blair sitting on the proposed “Board of Peace”.
"He's somebody who's obviously been previously the Middle East envoy and also, as you'll know, had a lot of work experience in the Good Friday Agreement as well. But we are expecting it to also involve other leaders and ex-leaders as part of it," Ms Cooper said.
Under Mr Trump’s plan, the so-called Board of Peace will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until the Palestinian Authority has undergone sufficient reform that it can take over.
Sir Tony, who took the UK into the Iraq War in 2003, served as Middle East envoy for the quartet of international powers – the US, the EU, Russia and the UN – after leaving office.
Recently, he has been part of high-level planning talks with the US and other parties about the future of Gaza.
Hamas representatives are currently reviewing Mr Trump's deal after being presented with the terms by Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s intelligence chief, AP reports.