Visit to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Amman, Cairo, 22-28 January 2026
Meeting with H.E. Nafieh Assaf, Palestinian Authority Minister of Education and Higher Education
The purpose of this visit was to respond to rapidly changing conditions on the ground and to engage with key partners across our network to assess the evolving political landscape and the implications for our work.
On 22 January, we held meetings in Ramallah with the Palestinian Authority Minister of Justice, and the Minister of Higher Education to review our programmes supporting lawyers and teachers in Gaza. In partnership with Queen’s University Belfast and St Mary’s University College, we are working with teachers in exile in Cairo and in Gaza to develop trauma-informed educational programmes for children affected by conflict.
We also discussed with the Minister of Justice how, working alongside a group of lawyers and mediators, we can develop our programme to address Gaza’s legal needs following the near-total destruction of its justice system.
The following day we met in Jerusalem with the Director of the Menachem Begin Centre and officials from the British Consulate to explore the current political context and the role of international engagement.
We travelled to Nablus on 24 January to meet with the education association Seeds For Development and Culture and assess conditions in the West Bank and the specific challenges facing local communities.
Our political engagement continued the following day with meetings in the Knesset, where we reviewed the political situation and explored how regular dialogue could be expanded with our Israeli network, with a focus on identifying pathways towards ending the ongoing conflict.
On 26 January, we were invited to the Israeli President’s Residence to attend an address by the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. This evening also allowed us to meet with European ambassadors and exchange assessments of current developments. That evening we also met with Hadash Members of the Knesset, Aida Touma-Suleiman and Ayman Odeh in the Knesset.
Meeting with US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, and Director of the Jabotinsky Institute, Ariel Morali
President Herzog giving his opening address
Meeting in Nablus with Raed Debiy, founder and Executive Director of the Seeds Association for Development and Culture
Meeting with the Palestinian Education, Finance, Social Affairs and Justice Commissioners
We travelled to Amman the following day to meet with HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal and his team. Discussions focused on the growing risks to the status quo agreement and the impact of settler incursions at the Al Aqsa compound.
We concluded the visit in Cairo. We met with the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a newly formed body of 15 politically independent Palestinian technocrats tasked with managing the day-to-day civil service and public administration in the Gaza Strip following the ceasefire. We also met with Nickolay Mladenov, who has been appointed as High Representative for Gaza and Director-General of the United States-led Peace Board, the international body established to oversee governance, reconstruction and security coordination in Gaza as part of a transitional peace initiative. Our discussions focused on the practical challenges of governance and reconstruction during the post-conflict period.
Meeting with HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal
Visit to recently demolished UNRWA offices in Sheikh Jarrah