- UK Development Minister is in Cairo today (15
November) to hold talks with Egyptian counterparts and trusted
partners
- he will push to get further lifesaving aid into Gaza as
quickly as possible, through as many routes as possible
- the UK recently allocated £30 million in additional
humanitarian aid to organisations doing lifesaving work in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories
UK Minister for Development and Africa is in Cairo today for
discussions on how to get significantly more aid into Gaza.
The Minister will discuss how to enact humanitarian pauses in the
fighting as soon as possible so that aid, including
fuel, can be delivered for hospitals and other needs and
hostages can be released.
Minister Mitchell will also meet with the Egyptian Red Crescent
Society (ERCS), the agency responsible for shipment of
humanitarian goods across the Rafah border, as well as the United
Nations Resident Coordinator (UNRC) in Egypt, Elena Panova, and
OCHA.
UK Development Minister, , said:
I thank Egypt for their sustained diplomatic efforts to get more
lifesaving aid into Gaza as quickly as possible.
The UK has more than doubled our aid commitment to the
Palestinian people this year and we call on all parties to allow
the humanitarian pauses necessary to ensure this aid reaches
those in need in Gaza.
The UK recently allocated £30 million in additional aid to the
Occupied Palestinian Territories – more than doubling the
existing aid commitment for this year (£27 million).
This will allow trusted partners, including the United Nations
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
(UNRWA), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
and others, to provide Palestinians with essential humanitarian
relief items and services such as food, water and shelter.
Three UK flights have already landed in Egypt carrying over
51 tonnes of aid since the
crisis began, including lifesaving items such as wound care
packs, water filters and solar powered lights.
The government has so far ensured over 150 British nationals and
their dependants have safely left Gaza and the FCDO is
using all channels available to it ensure any remaining
registered British nationals are able to cross the Rafah border
as soon as is possible. Royal Navy vessels are in the Middle East
to deter further escalation.
The government continues to call on all parties to allow the
humanitarian pauses necessary to allow more aid of this kind to
enter Gaza. The Prime Minister has been clear that Israel’s
forces must act within international law and stop extremist
violence in the West Bank.
This visit to Egypt follows the G7 Foreign Ministers’
meeting in Japan last week. Partners including the UK agreed
in the meeting on the need for humanitarian pauses to facilitate
urgently needed assistance, civilian movement and the release of
hostages.
During the Prime Minister’s recent visit to the region, he again
reiterated his support a two-state solution to provide justice
and security for both Israelis and Palestinians.
