(July 9, 2025)

The Foreign Secretary said: “The statements that you’ve just described from defence minister [Israel Katz] relate very much to where the IDF are located and you’ll understand that if they’re, if what you describe is true then I think that would be a big sticking point for getting that ceasefire.”

Describing the issue as one of Israel’s “location” in Gaza, he added: “I suspect the statement from defence minister Katz is in relation to that and I suspect if indeed he is insistent of that position then it would be very hard to see how we get that ceasefire because there is an acute discussion about the degree to which the IDF withdraws from Gaza.”