Middle East & North Africa
UK adds £5 million for Gaza winter aid as Greece, Cyprus and dozens of states back UN Call to Action
Minister Stephen Doughty told MPs Israel is blocking shelter supplies, and a UK-delivered UN statement on Gaza access was joined by Greece and Cyprus.
The UK government announced a further £5 million for UNICEF’s winter response in Gaza on 12 November, as Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told the House of Commons that Israeli authorities are preventing shelter supplies from entering the territory. The same day in New York, a UK-delivered joint statement on health and humanitarian access into Gaza was backed by dozens of states, among them Greece and Cyprus.
What the minister said
Doughty said that, according to humanitarian partners on the ground, heavy rain and wind at the weekend affected more than 152,000 people, destroyed over 6,000 shelters, damaged 17,400 and left nearly 4,000 households without shelter.
He told MPs that, according to the UN, more than 150,000 tents and 300,000 tarpaulins bought by humanitarian partners and donors are waiting outside Gaza, and that Israeli authorities have prevented them from entering and continue to block timber. “Let the aid in,” he said. He also said Israel closed the Egypt corridor for six days from 3 November over allegations of smuggling. He cited more than 1,600 people killed since the ceasefire, a figure given by the minister and not verified here.
Call to Action in New York
Ambassador Sarah MacIntosh, the UK’s permanent representative to the UN, delivered the statement on behalf of countries that have joined the Call to Action led by the UK, Qatar and Jordan. Signatories include Greece, Cyprus, France, Italy, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the State of Palestine.
The statement says the peace plan endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2803 provides for the immediate entry of full humanitarian assistance, which “has not yet been realised”. It calls on the incoming Israeli government to allow unimpeded access through all crossings, approve more “dual use” items for shelter, fuel, water and health, restore medical referrals to East Jerusalem and West Bank hospitals, and let senior international delegations and journalists into Gaza.
What comes next
Doughty said the UK would keep pressing for the restrictions to be lifted. The UN relief chief made a similar appeal to governments, covered in UN relief chief Fletcher to governments on Gaza winter aid: “No more delay”.
Sources: UK Foreign Office, Minister Doughty’s statement and the Call to Action joint statement.
