150 tonnes of UK aid enters Gaza today, 13 March, including tents
and hygiene supplies.
A UK field hospital will arrive this week to provide life-saving
medical care.
Foreign Secretary also announces further £10 million in aid
funding, bringing UK support to more than £100 million this
financial year.
Around 150 tonnes of UK aid, including more than 13,000 blankets
and 840 family-sized tents, has entered Gaza today,
where the United Nations [UNICEF] will distribute them to those
in need.
In addition, a full field hospital, provided by UK Aid funding to
UK-Med, will arrive this week. The facility can be adapted
according to needs on the ground and usually
includes a pharmacy, triage area, major injuries and
resuscitation unit, and maternity care tent.
The field hospital left Manchester on 5 March and is on route to
Gaza. This facility can be operational in as little as 48 hours
and will be able to treat more than 100 patients a day. It will
be staffed by both local health workers and international medics,
including many from the UK, on the UK-Med Register.
Alongside the latest deliveries of aid, the Foreign Secretary has
announced a further £10 million in aid funding for the Occupied
Palestinian Territories (OPTs), bringing the total spend to over
£100 million this financial year. This funding will support UN
agencies on the ground to deliver lifesaving aid and will also
provide core relief items, such as tents, for the most
vulnerable.
Foreign Secretary said:
Too many people in Gaza are suffering. No one should be without
basic amenities like shelter and bedding, and everyone deserves
the dignity that basic hygiene kits provide. Our largest aid
delivery, combined with a new UK funded field hospital, will save
lives.
But an immediate pause in the fighting is the only way to get aid
into Gaza in the quantities desperately needed. This will also
allow for the safe release of hostages.
We could then work towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire,
without a return to destruction, fighting or loss of life.
Today’s additional 150 tonnes of UK core relief items for UNICEF
will include 840 family tents, 13,440 blankets, almost 3,000
shelter kits, and shelter-fixing kits, 6,000 sleeping mats and
more than 3,000 dignity kits to support women and
girls.
An estimated 3.1 million people are in need of humanitarian
assistance in the OPTs, with over half a million at risk from
famine.
The UK is committed to ensuring aid reaches those who need it
most, as Palestinians continue to face a devastating and growing
humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Foreign Secretary has been clear
that Israel must increase capacity to safely distribute aid
within Gaza. This includes opening a land crossing in the north
and issuing more visas to UN staff who are capable of delivering
aid when it arrives in Gaza.
Ahead of this new funding, the UK had previously trebled its
aid commitment to the OPTs. UK funding has supported the work
of partners including the British Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN World
Food Programme (WFP) and Egyptian Red Crescent Society (ERCS) to
deliver vital supplies.
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