NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand, March 20 (Reuters) -

B ritain's Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Wednesday said it

was vital for a pause in fighting between Israel and militant

group Hamas to enable the release of hostages in Gaza, but a lot

of conditions first needed to be met for a lasting ceasefire.

Speaking to Reuters during a trip to Thailand, Cameron said

attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas last year and its holding

of hostages was inhumane, and the only way for the Palestinian

people to have a future was with the militant group out of the

picture.

"Crucially what we must try to do is to turn that pause into

a permanent sustainable ceasefire," Cameron said in an interview

during a visit to a Thai air force base.

"We will only do that if a whole lot of conditions are

fulfilled... we've got to get Hamas leaders out of Gaza, we have

to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure."

His remarks come as Washington launches a new diplomatic

push for a ceasefire in the nearly six-month-old war, to free

hostages and bring in food aid to ward off famine in the

Palestinian enclave.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit the Middle East

this week, where he will meet senior leaders of Egypt and Saudi

Arabia to "discuss the right architecture for a lasting peace",

though made no mention of a stop in Israel.

Cameron also said a bloody conflict in military-ruled

Myanmar was now a "multifaceted civil war" and there was a need

for former colonial ruler Britain, Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN

and other countries to step up and help end the fighting.

He said he hoped Britain could play a role in ensuring aid

could reach those most in need in Myanmar, which has been

embroiled in fighting between the military government on one

side and an armed resistance movement and ethnic minority rebels

on the other.

Cameron was in Nakhon Ratchasima in northeastern Thailand

inspecting Gripen fighter jets built by Sweden's Saab

in collaboration with British firms.

He hoped Thailand would procure more, in an unspecified deal

that he said would be worth 400 million pounds ($508.64 million)

to the British economy.

He also said a strategic partnership would be signed between

Britain and Thailand that would take ties to a new level.

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing

by Kanupriya Kapoor)