Yvette Cooper says Gaza peace deal 'close' as Trump backs UN plan

The new Foreign Secretary believes the UN agreement could finally bring an end to two years of conflict and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed thousands of lives.

Ms Cooper, who has just returned from a UN summit, said leaders had “reached a moment where the world wants to end this war” after US President Donald Trump indicated a deal was close.

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She urged the Israeli government to “urgently change course” from its military onslaught in Gaza, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN his country “must finish the job".

But the Cabinet member fell short of calling Netanyahu’s actions genocidal, despite calls to do so from inside her party.

Despite reportedly being one of the ministers who privately pushed Keir Starmer to recognise the Palestinian state, Ms Cooper repeated the government’s position not to label the military offensive as genocide due to legal process.

It comes after Mr Trump backed plans for Tony Blair to head a temporary technocratic administration of Gaza.

When asked if the former UK prime minister was the right person to lead the transitional authority, given his role in the 2003 Iraq War, Ms Cooper declined to comment twice.

Speaking to The Guardian before the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Ms Cooper said: “I feel like there is a consensus, a real, huge consensus building, and there was real energy and determination [at the UN] around peace. I think we’ve reached a moment where the world wants to end this war.”

She added that a ceasefire, the restoration of humanitarian aid and the release of all the hostages was the “beginning of the process,” which she admitted was “fragile” and contained “many obstacles".

“We can’t pretend this isn’t incredibly hard, and how long the crisis has been going on makes it challenging,” the senior Labour figure said.

“But there was no doubt that there is a real sense of determination and energy behind trying to get an end to the war and to try and get not just an immediate ceasefire, but a proper plan for the future.”

On Friday, Trump told reporters “we may have a deal” on Gaza shortly after Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to UN delegates.

Diplomats say the 21-point White House plan for peace is compatible with the plan for Palestine endorsed by the UN last week—meaning there would be no mass displacement from Gaza, no role for Hamas and no West Bank annexation.

But aspects of Trump’s plan, including what role Blair might play, are understood to have left some Foreign Office insiders unhappy.

“Tony Blair has been one of the people adding proposals to this process, and that’s been really important, but there have been lots of other processes as well,” Cooper said.

“There’s still a huge amount of work to do. At this stage, there’s a sense of consensus building, but we’ve got to keep that on track.”