UK foreign secretary to discuss Houthi shipping attacks during Oman visit

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron will travel to Oman today where he is expected to call for stability over ongoing Houthi attacks against merchant vessels linked to Israel in the Red Sea and de-escalating of tensions in the Middle East, the foreign office in London has announced.

This will be Cameron’s fourth visit to the Middle East since his appointment as foreign secretary, confirmed Reuters. He will meet his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi to discuss how to reduce tensions across the region. The Houthi attacks will be a major focus of his discussions.

READ: UK says it downed Houthi attack drone in Red Sea

Cameron is expected to reiterate Britain’s commitment to getting aid into Yemen, and outline the actions that the Sunak government is taking to deter the Houthis from targeting Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea.

In an earlier diplomatic tour, he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and politicians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where the Western-backed Palestinian Authority is based. He also visited Qatar to discuss the situation in Gaza.

In his meetings in Israel, Cameron that said he stressed the need for a pause in fighting to secure the release of hostages seized by Hamas during a cross-border attack against Israeli occupation forces on 7 October. Israel has detained more than 6,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October.

READ: Indian navy rescues two boats in one day from Somali pirates