The Foreign Secretary has announced that the UK and Qatar are
working together to get more aid into Gaza, with our first joint
consignment containing 17 tonnes of family sized tents being
flown today [Thurs 25th].
On the visit, the Foreign Secretary will witness first-hand both
the UK and Qatar’s humanitarian aid being loaded onto a plane
destined for Egypt, after which it will go by road to Gaza. The
tents will provide critical shelter for people and are
desperately needed, as more families are displaced by the
conflict and a cold winter continues.
Foreign Secretary said:
The scale of suffering in Gaza is unimaginable. More must be
done, faster, to help people trapped in this desperate situation.
We have trebled our assistance for Gaza, and cooperation with
partners like Qatar is helping move life-saving aid and equipment
over the border to those living in devastation.
But our efforts will only make a difference if aid gets to those
who need it most, which is why we need more access for UN staff.
As I said to PM Netanyahu yesterday, far more trucks need to be
able to enter Gaza and more crossings need to open. We need an
immediate humanitarian pause to get aid in and hostages out,
followed by a sustainable ceasefire, without a return to
hostilities.
The UK has trebled its assistance and is continuing working with
partners like Qatar to provide life-saving aid and equipment.
With reports of 9 out of 10 people in Gaza living on less than a
meal a day in northern Gaza, our focus must be on practical
solutions to save lives.
The Foreign Secretary pushed Israeli leaders for Ashdod to be
used for the delivery of life-saving aid into Gaza on his visit
to the region. The UK and its partners efforts can only make a
difference if they can reach those in urgent need.
Israel must take steps, working with other partners including the
UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza
including allowing prolonged humanitarian pauses, opening more
routes into Gaza and fully restoring water, fuel and electricity
supplies.
The Foreign Secretary’s Representative for Humanitarian Affairs
in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Mark Bryson-Richardson,
is based in the region and is working intensively to address the
blockages preventing more aid reaching Gaza.
