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LONDON: UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said that there is “no military solution” in Gaza and called for an end to the war, noting that the international community is making progress toward a peace deal for the Palestinian coastal enclave, backed by the US administration.

Cooper, who reaffirmed the British government’s decision to recognize the state of Palestine during her speech at the UN General Assembly last week, told The Guardian that the international community has “reached a moment where the world wants to end this war.”

Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip since late 2023, which have resulted in the killing of more than 65,000 people in a span of two years, have been labeled as genocide by several EU and UN officials.

Cooper, believed to be one of the cabinet ministers who urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to recognize Palestinian statehood, refrained from declaring that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. She said that it is up to the government’s legal expert to make that determination, according to The Guardian.

“For security for Israelis, as well as security for Palestinians and as well as dealing with this devastating humanitarian crisis, I think the Israeli government urgently needs to change course,” she said.

US President Donald Trump announced that a peace deal was attainable in Gaza after several meetings during the general assembly with leaders from Arab and majority-Muslim countries, who urged him to push for an immediate ceasefire in the territory.

The White House is reportedly supporting a plan for a temporary technocratic administration in Gaza, led by Tony Blair, the former UK prime minister and a controversial figure in the Middle East because of his involvement in the 2003 Iraq war. Cooper declined to say if Blair was suitable to lead the Gaza transitional authority, The Guardian added.

“I feel like there is a consensus, a real, huge consensus building, and there was real energy and determination (at the UN) around peace. I think we’ve reached a moment where the world wants to end this war,” Cooper said.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, from the UN, vowed to “finish the job.” Since August, Israeli forces have been advancing into Gaza City, the enclave’s main metropolis and home to major government, financial, medical, and educational institutions. It was home to one million Palestinians before the mass displacement since late 2023.

“There is no military solution to this that works, there is no way that the security of Israel is remotely strengthened by this further Gaza City offensive,” Cooper said.

The British diplomat has not yet met Netanyahu, although she was in New York when he made his remarks at the UN. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, was the last world leader Cooper met as shadow foreign secretary in 2011 and the first she met after becoming UK foreign secretary this month, according to The Guardian.

“We can’t pretend this isn’t incredibly hard, and how long the crisis has been going on makes it challenging. But there was no doubt that there is a real sense of determination and energy behind trying to get an end to the war and to try and get not just an immediate ceasefire, but a proper plan for the future,” she said.

The 21-point White House peace plan for Gaza is clear that there will be no mass displacement of Palestinians, it excludes Hamas from any future government and prohibits Israel from annexing the West Bank. It remains to be confirmed whether Blair, who served as the Middle East envoy, will head it.

“Everybody can see the horror of what has happened and the fact that it feels like nothing’s being done. It feels like nothing is changing. It feels like everything is just getting worse.

“The challenge for us now is that there is a moment, and we have to make sure that that moment, through international action, is turned into a peace process.”

SRINAGAR: In a modest workshop filled with the fragrance of seasoned wood, 78-year-old Ghulam Mohammad Zaz continues a craft his family has preserved for eight generations — the making of the Kashmiri santoor.

Surrounded by tools that have outlived artisans, he works slowly, each strike and polish echoing centuries of tradition crafting the musical instrument.

“Seven generations have worked and I am the eighth; I have no guarantee anyone after me will do this work,” Zaz said softly, speaking in Kashmiri.

Once, several of his family members shared this craft in the heart of Kashmir’s main city Srinagar, in the Indian-administered part of the Himalayan territory.

Today, he is the last in the city to make the instruments by hand.

“If I tell anyone to make something, they won’t know what to do or how to make it,” said Zaz, who produces around eight to 10 instruments every year, selling for around 50,000 rupees ($565) each.

“It is not as simple as just picking some wood — one needs to find the right kind of wood.”

The santoor, a hundred-stringed zither-like instrument played with hammers, has long been central to Kashmir’s musical identity, giving the Muslim-majority region its cultural distinctiveness.

The contested Himalayan territory has been divided between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947.

Militants have fought Indian rule, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.

Tensions remain high between New Delhi and Islamabad.

In May, clashes between the nuclear-armed rivals sparked the worst fighting since 1999, killing more than 70 people in missile, drone and artillery exchanges.

MYSTICAL MUSIC

Historically, the santoor formed the backbone of ” Sufiana music,” Kashmir’s mystical music tradition, with its hypnotic and reverberating sound bringing tranquility.

“Musicians used to come from Iran to Kashmir, they used to play santoor and other instruments,” said Muzaffar Bhat, a music professor at a government college in Anantnag.

“They used to sing in Persian... we adapted the santoor from them and assimilated it into our music.”

The instrument received a new life in the 20th century.

In the 1950s, celebrated Indian musician Shivkumar Sharma — born in Jammu and Kashmir in 1938 — used the santoor to play classical music.

“Due to that, this became popularised in the classical circles throughout India,” Bhat said.

Suddenly, the santoor was no longer confined to Kashmiri sufiana gatherings — it had become a celebrated voice in Indian classical music.

Yet tradition faced challenges as Western instruments and global music trends began to overshadow local sounds.

“A lot of our traditional Kashmiri instruments became sidelined,” said Bhat.

For craftsmen like Zaz, this meant fewer patrons, fewer students, and the slow decline of a centuries-old family profession.

Zaz sells his instruments in Kashmir, but also receives orders from Europe and the Middle East.

But there is hope. A revival, however modest, is taking root.

“Since the last few years, a new trend has started,” Bhat said. “Our youngsters have started to learn our traditional instruments.”