Israeli foreign minister meets David Lammy in London in unannounced trip

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar met British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in an unannounced trip to London on Tuesday.

Middle East Eye reported earlier that Saar was set to visit the UK this week. Several sources have since confirmed that he met the British foreign secretary in London on Tuesday in a private meeting. 

MEE understands that the two discussed Iran's nuclear programme and ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas - and that Lammy raised the need to end the blockade of Gaza and stop Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. 

The UK Foreign Office declined to comment. The visit this week by such a high-ranking Israeli minister will be seen as controversial, given the warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Independent MP Ayoub Khan told MEE: "It is utterly disgraceful and profoundly disappointing that the UK government chose to host Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in London, especially in private, at a time when Israel is carrying out one of the most devastating and brutal military campaigns in recent history."

He added: "Saar's visit should never have been allowed. His rhetoric and policies stand in direct contradiction to international humanitarian law and basic human decency."

Saar recently attempted to justify Israel’s decision to cut off aid to Gaza, saying, without evidence, that humanitarian assistance fuels Hamas.

"Aid that goes to Hamas is not humanitarian," Saar said on 4 March, portraying the blockade as legitimate despite it being considered an act of collective punishment under international law.

A key player in Netanyahu's government, he is an avowed opponent of the two-state solution and said last November that "creating a Palestinian state today would be tantamount to creating a Hamas state".

Saar's visit also comes amid strained relations between the UK and Israel. The British government has criticised Israel's blockade of Gaza, including its decision to cut electricity from the Gaza Strip.

It warned that the policy "risks breaching Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law".

Last week, a diplomatic row broke out between the UK and Israel when Israeli authorities denied entry to two Labour MPs.

Labour MPs Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang arrived in Israel as part of a parliamentary delegation but were refused entry on the grounds that they intended to "spread hate speech" against the country and "document the security forces", according to Israel's Population and Immigration Authority.

Lammy slammed the Israeli government, saying the move was "unacceptable, counterproductive and deeply concerning".