Cameron further urged Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, declaring it “ludicrous” that essential British and other aid was being sent back at the border.

The foreign secretary then dubbed the last 30 years as a story of failure for Israel, because while it had a growing economy, invested in defence, and had rising living standards, it lacked one necessity that “every family wants”: security.

“And it is only by recognising that failure and recognising that true peace and progress will come when the benefits of peace and progress are greater than the benefits of returning to fighting.”

The UK has supported a two-state solution for a long time, one where Palestinians and Israelis could live peacefully in separate adjacent countries. However, Cameron is suggesting that Britain could give formal, diplomatic recognition to a Palestinian state during negotiations, not as part of a final peace deal.

For this, there would have to be a new Palestinian authority with “technocratic and good leaders” able to govern Gaza, he said.

Cameron added that together with this, and probably most important of all, is to “give the Palestinian people a political horizon so that they can see that there is going to be irreversible progress to a two-state solution and crucially the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

“We have a responsibility there because we should be starting to set out what a Palestinian state would look like, what it would comprise, how it would work and crucially, looking at the issue, that as that happens, we with allies will look at the issue of recognising a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations.

“That could be one of the things that helps to make this process irreversible.”

Moreover, for this to materialise it would require that all Israeli hostages would need to be released, a guarantee that Hamas could not launch attacks on Israel and that its leadership had left Gaza.

While he admitted that reaching a deal would be difficult, it is not impossible.

Cameron further expressed hope at the ongoing negotiations, saying that there is now an opening through which real and long-lasting progress can be made. 

“That is the prize we should be looking for, and more than that, not just how you go from pause to sustainable ceasefire, but how you go from there to a set of political moves and arrangements that could start to deliver the longer term political solution,” Lord Cameron said.

“Although it is incredibly difficult, although efforts in the past have failed, we cannot give up.”

Are you hopeful that an end to this long and tragic conflict will be seen?