David Lammy has been criticised for removing a yellow pin badge expressing solidarity with Israeli hostages when meeting the Palestinian prime minister.
The Foreign Secretary and Stéphane Séjourné, his French counterpart, wore the symbols on their suits as they met Israel Katz, the Israeli foreign minister, on Friday.
But both men had removed their badges by the time they sat down for a meeting with Mohammed Mustafa, the Palestinian prime minister, later in the day.
Eylon Levy, a former spokesman for the Israeli government, said: ‘Imagine if they had made the tiny gesture of keeping the pin for their meeting with the Palestinian prime minister.
It would have sent a message – stop making excuses for Hamas. Tell it to free the hostages, now!’
Last night, reports in Israel claimed Mr Lammy had been snubbed by Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu because Sir Keir Starmer had dropped the previous Tory government’s objection to the International Criminal Court’s request for arrest warrants against Mr Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes.
An Israeli official denied the reports.
Last night, Mr Netanyahu’s office said its negotiating team has expressed ‘cautious optimism’ on the possibility of advancing a deal on hostages in Gaza.
But a Hamas spokesman said there were ‘no improvements’ in the latest deal.