Statement by Ambassador , UK Permanent
Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on
the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The UK called this meeting alongside Denmark, France, Greece and
Slovenia in response to the alarming warnings that the
humanitarian situation in Gaza is worse than it has ever been.
So we are calling for three urgent things.
First, the UK calls on Israel to lift its block on aid.
The World Food Programme warned us over a week ago that they have
no food left.
And IPC data released yesterday shows that the whole of Gaza is
at the risk of famine.
Meanwhile, tonnes of food are currently sitting rotting at the
border, blocked from reaching people who are starving.
This is cruel and it is inexcusable.
And it risks further deaths that should be avoidable.
Second, the UK will not support any aid mechanism that seeks to
deliver political or military objectives or puts vulnerable
civilians at risk.
We call on Israel to urgently engage with the UN to ensure a
return to delivery of aid in line with humanitarian
principles.
International law requires Israel to allow the rapid and
unimpeded provision of humanitarian aid to all civilians.
Third, the UK reiterates our outrage at the killing of
Palestinian Red Crescent workers and the strikes on a UNOPS
compound in March.
We are disappointed that Israel has not yet released the final
findings of its investigation into the UNOPS incident or taken
concrete action to ensure these incidents can never happen again.
President, the release of Edan Alexander yesterday after 17
months of cruel Hamas captivity offers a rare moment of
hope.
We must never forget the suffering of those hostages that remain
in Gaza and those families awaiting the return of their loved
ones' remains.
It is ceasefire deals that have delivered the release of over 180
hostages and allowed a massive scale-up of aid for desperate
Palestinians.
This shows what is possible with political will.
This is why we strongly oppose an expansion of this conflict, as
do many hostages' families.
And it is a ceasefire deal that now offers the best hope of
ending the agony of the hostages and their families, alleviating
the suffering of civilians in Gaza, ending Hamas' control of Gaza
and achieving a pathway to a two-state solution.
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