British premier urges Iran-Israel ceasefire to hold, calls for return to negotiations

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Tuesday for a ceasefire between Iran and Israel to be upheld.

"The ceasefire between Iran and Israel must hold. This is an opportunity to secure much-needed stability in the Middle East," he said on X on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels.

Starmer underscored the UK's long-standing position that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon "and they must now return to the table and work towards a lasting settlement."

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a brutal offensive against the Gaza Strip since October 2023, killing more than 55,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.