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 Stephane Sejourne, his French counterpart, wore the symbols on their suits as they met with Israel Katz, the foreign minister of Israel, on Friday.

But both men had removed their badges by the time they sat down for a separate meeting with Mohammed Mustafa, the Palestinian prime minister, later in the day,

Mr Lammy had vowed to “use every diplomatic lever” to achieve a ceasefire in Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas ahead of his trip to the region.

Gesture ‘would have sent message to Hamas’

But critics lamented the decision by the Foreign Secretary and Mr Sejourne not to wear their yellow badges in solidarity with the hostages as they met with Mr Mustafa.

Elyon Levy, a former spokesman for the Israeli government, said: “They wore the hostage pin for the Israeli meeting. They took it off for the Palestinian [meeting].

“Just imagine if the UK and French foreign ministers had made the tiny, effortless gesture of keeping the hostage 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!”

Arsen Ostrovsky, the chief executive of the International Legal Forum (ILF) – an Israel-based coalition of lawyers – added: “Imagine the powerful message it would have shown had they kept it on. But instead, it was just for show.”

Mr Lammy has said both publicly and privately that Hamas must return Israeli hostages immediately, saying in the Commons this year he “deplores” the actions of the group.

As part of his calls for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict, he has repeatedly stressed the need for the safe return of all hostages.

He has also met with the families of the hostages held by Hamas on several occasions, most recently during a visit to Israel on July 14.

Labour has held a number of positions on the conflict, initially insisting in the wake of Oct 7 that Israel had a right to defend itself, before calling for a conditional ceasefire.

The conditions of an end to hostilities included the release of all hostages by Hamas.

Earlier this year, Sir Keir Starmer shifted the party’s position on the conflict to take a fifth stance and call for an immediate ceasefire.

Mr Lammy has said the Middle East is currently facing a “dangerous moment” in the wake of Iranian threats of a major assault on Israeli territory.

Urging Hamas and Israel to “seriously” engage in ceasefire talks, he said: “There can be no delays or excuses… This is a vital opportunity to secure the release of hostages and an immediate surge in aid into Gaza.”

After talks in Doha wrapped up on Friday, Mr Lammy said he was hopeful that Israel and Hamas were on the “cusp of a deal” following a statement in which Qatar, Egypt and the US  lauded “serious and constructive” negotiations.

SNP MSP loses whip over Gaza statements

Meanwhile, John Mason, an SNP member of the Scottish Parliament, was stripped of the party whip for “completely unacceptable” posts about the Gaza conflict.

Mr Mason had written on X: “There is no genocide. If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed many, many more.”

A spokesman for the SNP chief whip said: “To flippantly dismiss the deaths of more than 40,000 Palestinians is completely unacceptable. There can be no room in the SNP for this kind of intolerance.”

Mr Mason, the MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, used a Facebook post after his suspension to say “too many” lives had been lost in the region and to call for peace.

But he added: “I personally do not believe that Israel has tried to commit, has committed, or is committing genocide.

“They certainly have the ability to kill many more Palestinians than they have done. That is not to say that the loss of life already is not too many.”