UK Government Increases Humanitarian Aid to Gaza Amid Catastrophic Situation

Monday 02 December 2024 - 10:08

The UK government has announced an increase of £19 million (approximately €22.8 million) in humanitarian aid for Gaza, where the situation is described as "catastrophic." The announcement was made by Development Minister Anneliese Dodds, who is traveling to Cairo for a conference on the humanitarian crisis.

Gaza's population is facing urgent needs for food and shelter as winter approaches. The Cairo conference is seen as an opportunity to propose concrete solutions to the ongoing humanitarian disaster. The UK government has also called for immediate action from Israel to ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian aid into Gaza. International humanitarian organizations have accused Israeli authorities of obstructing the entry of sufficient aid trucks into the besieged Palestinian territory.

The new British funds will be allocated to various agencies, with £12 million directed to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Food Programme (WFP), and £7 million allocated to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). UNRWA announced that it had suspended aid deliveries in Gaza from a key crossing point with Israel, as the situation has made further deliveries "impossible."

This brings the total UK commitment for humanitarian aid to the occupied Palestinian territories to £99 million (€120 million) for this year. Following the Cairo conference, Minister Dodds plans to visit both the Palestinian territories and Israel.

The ongoing conflict began with the Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,400 individuals, mostly military personnel. As of Sunday, Gaza's Health Ministry, under Hamas governance, reported that 44,429 people have died in Gaza since the war began more than a year ago.