Tag: Gaza

RAF airdrops over 10 tonnes of food supplies to civilians in Gaza

The Royal Air Force airdropped over 10 tonnes of food supplies into Gaza for the first time yesterday (Monday 25 March 2024), as part of international efforts to provide life-saving assistance to civilians. 

The aid consists of water, rice, cooking oil, flour, tinned goods and baby formula.

The Defence Secretary authorised the airdrop following an assessed reduction in threat to the military mission and risk to civilians.

An RAF A400M flew from Amman, Jordan to airdrop this aid along the northern coastline of Gaza, as part of the Jordanian-led international aid mission. UK personnel worked closely with the Royal Jordanian Air Force to plan and conduct this mission. 

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: “The UK has already tripled our aid budget to Gaza, but we want to go further in order to reduce human suffering. Today’s airdrop has provided a further way to deliver humanitarian support and I thank the RAF personnel involved in this essential mission, as well as our Jordanian partners for their leadership.

“The hell that was unleashed by the October 7th Hamas attack has led to wide-scale innocent loss of life. The UK’s goal is to use every route possible to deliver life-saving aid, whether that is by road, air or new routes via the sea. 

“We also continue to call on Israel to provide port access and open more land crossings in order to increase incoming aid deliveries to Gaza.”

The A400M is a highly capable tactical and strategic airlift platform and today’s airdrop was its first ever mission delivering humanitarian aid by parachute. Both RAF and British Army personnel participated in the mission. The drop zones were surveyed before and during the airdrop to ensure aid was delivered directly to civilians. 

This airdrop is part of ongoing UK efforts to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza and follows recent land deliveries of 2,000 tonnes of UK food aid to feed more than 275,000 people and thousands of UK-funded blankets, tents and other relief items, as well as the establishment of a full UK-funded field hospital in Gaza run by British charity UK-Med.

The UK remains committed to ensuring aid reaches those who need it most, as Palestinians continue to face a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The UK has previously supported international airdrops, providing around 600 parachutes at the request of Jordan and Bahrain and supplying critical aid for a Jordanian airdrop to Tal Al-Hawa Hospital in northern Gaza.

Between October and November 2023, the RAF also delivered aid and humanitarian supplies to Egypt for distribution by the Egyptian Red Crescent and UNRWA. 

The UK continues to work with allies, including Cyprus, the United States, European Union and United Arab Emirates, to open a direct maritime corridor to Gaza.

UK defence planning teams are deployed in the United States and Cyprus to support this international effort and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is prepositioning aid in Cyprus.

The UK Hydrographic Office has also shared analysis of the Gazan shore with US planners to help establish a temporary aid pier. In January, the UK worked with Cypriot partners to pre-screen 87 tonnes of aid that was delivered by Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship RFA Lyme Bay to the Egyptian Red Cross for the people of Gaza.

The UK is also focused on ensuring more aid can enter Gaza by land, working closely with Jordan who have been instrumental in facilitating the UK’s humanitarian response. Last week, more than 2,000 tonnes of food aid was distributed by the World Food Programme on the ground. This adds to the 150 tonnes of UK-funded relief items, including blankets and tents, which arrived earlier this month, distributed by UNICEF.

Alongside the latest deliveries of aid, the UK 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.

TUC: UK government must stop trade talks with Israel to support peace in the Middle East

On 18 March, the TUC wrote to Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch in response to the news that the UK continues to be in active trade talks with Israel (writes TUC’s Rosa Crawford). 

The government concluded the latest round at the end of February.

The TUC believes trade negotiations must be used to ensure respect for human rights and international law.

We have longstanding policy on Palestinian rights.

Since the UK launched trade talks on an updated trade agreement with Israel in March 2022, the TUC has consistently stated it does not believe the government should engage in these negotiations, given Israel’s persistent violation of international law, UN resolutions and systematic violations of Palestinian labour and human rights.

In light of the Israeli government’s military operations in Gaza in recent months where these violations have intensified, our letter calls for the government to:

  • end trade talks with Israel
  • end arms sales and military collaboration
  • end the UK’s trade in goods from the Occupied Palestinian Territories

On 26 January the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found it ‘plausible’ that Israel’s acts could amount to genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza and issued binding provisional measures.

The UK government has an obligation as a party to the Genocide Convention to take measures to prevent genocide.  It is therefore incumbent on the government to ensure Israel acts in accordance with the ICJ ruling.

Our letter follows the TUC’s General Council statement unequivocally condemning the shocking attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas, calling for the immediate, unconditional release of all hostages unharmed, and calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

In February the TUC wrote to the Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron calling for an immediate ceasefire accompanied by a political process. It expressed disappointment the UK government had so far failed to support such a ceasefire.

The TUC calls on the government to support genuine efforts towards a just, lasting and comprehensive peace that is consistent with international law, and is based on a two-state solution, which promotes equality, democracy and respect for human and labour rights.

Largest UK aid delivery enters Gaza to feed 275,000 people

UK funding to World Food Programme supports major aid delivery in Gaza via Jordanian land corridor

The UK’s largest delivery of aid to Gaza has crossed the border and is being distributed by the United Nations to families in need, the Foreign Secretary has confirmed. 

More than 2,000 tonnes of food aid, funded by the government, is being distributed by the World Food Programme (WFP) on the ground. 

This adds to the 150 tonnes of UK funded relief items including blankets and tents, which arrived last Wednesday 13 March, and will be distributed by UNICEF. A full UK field hospital run by UK-Med has also arrived in Gaza and is now operational and providing life-saving care.

The delivery includes fortified wheat flour for use in bakeries, hot meals and well as Ready To Eat (RTE) food parcels. The food parcels will be used to feed more than 275,000 people in Gaza. Each food parcel is designed for family of five and consists of canned vegetables, meat and fish, and date bars. The parcel can meet half of the daily calorie needs of the family for 15 days.  

This comes in the week that a report from Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned that famine is imminent in the northern Gaza Strip and the south faces a risk of famine if conditions continue to worsen.  

Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: “It’s crucial that we keep the flow of aid moving into Gaza to end the suffering, and that’s why this latest delivery of aid by WFP is so vitally important.

“The IPC’s report warns of imminent famine. We need sustained humanitarian access by road to get more aid in. We continue to push Israel to allow more crossings to open and for longer, and for healthcare, water and sanitation to be restored.”

Since the opening of the corridor in December 2023, the Government of Jordan, with the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, has worked to ensure the passage of almost 600 trucks of humanitarian assistance into Gaza carrying 8,000 tons of relief and food items. 

Humanitarian assistance from 10 different international aid agencies – including from UK partners WFP and UNICEF – has reached Gaza. 

The latest delivery was again facilitated by Jordan, who have been instrumental in supporting the UK’s humanitarian response.

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.

Angus Robertson: UK Government must reverse decision to suspend aid

UNRWA: Scotland’s External Affairs Secretary calls for Gaza aid barriers to be removed

Holyrood’s External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson has urged the UK Government to reverse its decision to suspend aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), given the continuing deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Writing to the Minister for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, Mr Robertson said he could not “overstate how crucial this decision is, for the very survival of starving children, women and men in Gaza”, given that “UNRWA remains the only organisation with the capacity to distribute [aid] at the scale required throughout the territory”.

He commended the UK Government’s decision to provide £60 million additional funding for Palestinian civilians, including for UNRWA in November and said it was “imperative to the survival of the agency and the irreplaceable function that it provides, that this commitment is fulfilled”.

Mr Robertson also noted the European Commission’s announcement on 1 March that it will proceed to paying €50 million to UNRWA, “based on the swift action taken by UNRWA to immediately dismiss the implicated staff members and to launch an independent investigation”.

Angus Robertson’s letter reads:

Dear Andrew,

I am writing to express my heightened concern for the continuing deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and in particular regarding the suspension of aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) by the UK Government. Given the dependence on UNRWA of 2.2 million people in Gaza, including children who are now dying of starvation, dehydration and infectious disease, I implore you to reverse this decision.

I share the concerns about the serious allegations that a number of UNRWA staff were involved in the abhorrent attacks of 7 October on Israel.  However, I have been reassured that UNRWA is taking the necessary action to investigate these allegations and to mitigate against such risks in the future.

I note that the European Commission announced on 1 March that it will proceed to paying €50 million to UNRWA and increase its emergency support for Palestine by €68 million in 2024. The Commission stated that it took this decision based on the swift action taken by UNRWA to immediately dismiss the implicated staff members and to launch an independent investigation. UNRWA has provided additional assurances that it will facilitate a further review and audit of the Agency by EU appointed external experts and that it will strengthen its department of internal investigations and the governance surrounding it.

I commend the UK Government’s decision to provide £60 million additional funding for Palestinian civilians, including for UNRWA in November. It is imperative to the survival of the agency and the irreplaceable function that it provides, that this commitment is fulfilled and that UNRWA has the necessary predictability of funding for the next financial year.

I also ask you to use your influence to ensure that the barriers to aid getting into and distributed throughout Gaza, which are being imposed in contravention of international law, are removed. I note that the UK and international partners are exploring the activation of a maritime corridor for aid delivery.

When increased levels of aid finally start to enter the Gaza strip, UNRWA remains the only organisation with the capacity to distribute it at the scale required throughout the territory. They must be able to fulfil this critical function.

I cannot overstate how crucial this decision is, for the very survival of starving children, women and men in Gaza.

ANGUS ROBERTSON

As of 11 March 2024, the European Commission, Canada and Sweden have confirmed they will resume aid funding to the UNRWA.

“THIS IS FOR GAZA”

Maverick humiliates mainstream parties

STUNNING VICTORY FOR GEORGE GALLOWAY IN ROCHDALE BY-ELECTION

The veteran campaigner for Palestine targeted Labour – and Keir Starmer in particular – in his victory speech. “Keir Starmer – this is for Gaza,” he declared.

ON a dreadful night for the mainstream political parties, independent candidate DAVID TULLY, a local businessman who campaigned on local issues, came second,

Here’s how Rochdale voted:

  • GEORGE GALLOWAY (Workers Party of Britain) – 12,335
  • David Anthony Tully (Independent) – 6,638
  • Paul Ellison (Conservative) – 3,731
  • Azhar Ali (on the ballot as a Labour candidate) – 2,402
  • Iain Donaldson (Liberal Democrats) – 2,164
  • Simon Danczuk (Reform UK) – 1,968
  • William Howarth (Independent) – 523
  • Mark Coleman (Independent) – 455
  • Guy Otten (on the ballot as a Green candidate) – 436
  • Michael Howarth (Independent) – 246
  • Ravin Rodent Subortna (Monster Raving Loony Party) – 209

Turnout was 39.7%

UK steps up health support for women and girls in Gaza

£4.25 million in UK aid will help ensure UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, can provide life-saving support to vulnerable women and girls

  • Foreign Secretary David Cameron announces £4.25m in aid to support sexual and reproductive healthcare in Gaza.
  • Support expected to help UN agency UNFPA reach more than 110,000 women with community midwives, menstrual hygiene kits and clean birth delivery kits.
  • Comes as women and girls in Gaza increasingly at risk of disease, pregnancy complications and gender-based violence.

The Foreign Secretary has announced new funding to tackle the sexual and reproductive healthcare crisis in Gaza. The £4.25 million in UK aid will help ensure UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, can provide life-saving support to vulnerable women and girls.

This support is expected to reach about 111,500 women, around 1 in 5 of the adult women in Gaza. It will support up to 100 community midwives, the distribution of around 20,000 menstrual hygiene management kits and 45,000 clean delivery kits.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron confirmed the additional funding in response to a UN flash appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Women and girls are particularly at risk from disease, pregnancy complications and gender-based violence in Gaza currently, with 85% of people displaced and currently just 13 out of the 36 hospitals partially functional, with one specialist maternity hospital functioning.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: “Women are bearing the brunt of the desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza today. Many thousands of women are currently pregnant and will be worrying about delivering their babies safely.

“This new UK funding will help make giving birth safer and improve the lives of mothers and their new-born babies. 

“We need to see an immediate pause in the fighting so we can secure the safe release of hostages, get more aid in, and allow organisations like UNFPA to do their vital work effectively.”

UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Natalia Kanem, said: “In Gaza, the reality for women and girls is horrific – and getting worse each day. They have little to no access to essential health services and menstrual supplies, and many are forced to give birth in unsafe conditions that put their lives and those of their babies at risk.

“The support of the United Kingdom and other partners is vital to get lifesaving resources directly to women and girls in desperate need.”

UNFPA is providing life-saving reproductive health supplies for women and girls in Gaza. Since the most recent crisis began, UNFPA has provided nearly 74,000 adolescents and children with psychosocial support and financial support for over 2,000 vulnerable women at risk of gender- based violence to purchase essential menstrual and hygiene items.

There were an estimated 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza at the start of the crisis, with more than 180 births occurring each day and over 5,500 women expected to deliver in the next month.

The UK has trebled our aid commitment to the Occupied Palestinian Territories this financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid in and open more crossings, including calling for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out.

Israel must take steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza including allowing prolonged humanitarian pauses, opening more routes into Gaza and restoring and sustaining water, fuel and electricity.

UTTER SHAMBLES!

CHAOS IN THE COMMONS OVER GAZA VOTE

IN a dark day for democracy a Westminster debate on calls for a ceasefire in Gaza descended into chaos after the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle was accused of allowing it to be “hijacked” by Labour.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle sparked fury from both SNP and Conservative MPs when he broke with convention to allow a vote on a Labour motion for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.

SNP MPs walked out of the chamber en bloc in protest at the Speaker’s action, joined by a sizeable number of Conservative MPs.

The Speaker later apologised for his unprecedented decision, saying he had acted “with the right intentions”, but his position is increasingly seen as untenable by many.

The SNP said they had been “treated with complete and utter contempt” and have lodged a motion of no confidence in the Speaker.

They added: “Today should’ve been about a ceasefire in Gaza and protecting the lives of innocent civilians. Instead, Westminster turned it into a circus.

“Today’s shameful events show Westminster is utterly broken. This should have been the chance for the UK Parliament to do the right thing and vote for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel – instead it turned into a Westminster circus.

“It is a disgrace that Sir Keir Starmer and the Speaker colluded to block Parliament voting on the SNP motion for an immediate ceasefire and against the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

“More than 29,000 Palestinian children, women and men have been killed – and huge swathes of Gaza have been obliterated while Westminster equivocates.

“People in Gaza and Israel, and voters in Scotland, have been badly let down – they deserve so much better than this.

“The SNP will continue to press the UK government and parliament to back an immediate ceasefire. The time for equivocation is over.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1760407612200222787

Following the chaos in the Commons chamber Labour’s amendment eventually went through without a formal vote, after the government said it would not take part in protest. This meant there was no formal vote on the SNP’s motion, which called for an immediate ceasefire.

The Former leader of the Conservative Party Sir Iain Duncan Smith has said he believes Sir Lindsay Hoyle was put under ‘intolerable pressure’ from Labour to include their amendment.

Sir Iain said he believed Labour wanted their amendment ‘to try and stop some kind of rebellion’ from within their own party and has called for the vote to be rerun.

Speaking on GB News last night, Sir Iain Duncan-Smith said: “There’s never normally a second amendment to an opposition day motion. Opposition days are about giving the opposition a chance to put their motion forward. Otherwise, all they’re ever doing is reacting to government.

“That standing order gives them a shot and having a vote on their motion before it’s amended.

“Tonight, that was all put into chaos because I think, due to the intolerable pressure the Speaker was under was to add the Labour amendment in.

“We know why Labour wanted their amendment in, it wasn’t just to express their view it was to try and stop some kind of rebellion on their part.

“Under the normal saga, it would have been the SNP first and we would have voted on the SNP [motion], not theirs.

“The government withdrew and said, we’re not going to put our amendment to the motion because it’s chaotic and messy. That’s the moment when they should have reversed the process back to normal and had the SNP one first. But the Speaker was determined that the Labour one would be done first.

“That’s where the chaos arose, because in all the rows that went on, they weren’t able to do it because in the noise, the Deputy Speaker quickly passed the Labour amendment.

“The SNP have expressed a lack of confidence [in the Speaker]; I don’t know where they’ll take it. I’m very fond of the speaker, he’s been very good in many ways, and he’s defended our rights.

“I think the truth is he was put under intolerable pressure by Labour’s determination to bend the rules so they can have their own amendment.

“Many on the Labour front bench need to reflect on the position they’ve left him in.

“I think we should rerun all of this personally, because I think the public should and deserves better from Parliament and the Speaker should never have been put under that pressure.”

After all the noise, all the drama, the government does not even have to adopt Labour’s position as the vote is not binding! So a hollow victory for Labour, then – but a deeply damaging day for Westminster democracy.

The UK is calling for an immediate suspension in fighting to get aid in and hostages out of Gaza

UK statement at the UN Security Council

Explanation of vote by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council meeting on Gaza:

Thank you President, we want to see the fighting in Gaza end as soon as possible in a way that never again allows Hamas to carry out the appalling terrorist attacks against Israel we saw on the 7th of October last year.  

Palestinian civilians are facing a devastating humanitarian crisis. We are particularly worried about the situation in Rafah, where a military operation could have appalling consequences for civilians sheltering there with nowhere else to go. Ongoing negotiations are critical to secure the release of the hostages held in Gaza.

We are calling for an immediate suspension in fighting to get aid in and hostages out, leading to a permanent, sustainable ceasefire.

That means the release of all hostages; the formation of a new Palestinian Government for the West Bank and Gaza, accompanied by an international support package; removing Hamas’s capacity to launch attacks against Israel; Hamas no longer in charge of Gaza; and, a political horizon which provides a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution. 

President, we welcome the efforts of our Algerian colleagues on this resolution, and we regret that some of our proposals were not taken on board.

Simply calling for a ceasefire as this resolution does, will not make it happen. Indeed, as it could endanger the hostage negotiations, it could actually make a ceasefire less likely. The way to stop the fighting, and potentially stop it from restarting, is to begin with a pause to get hostages out and aid in, that is what we are calling for. It could end the fighting now. 

We will continue to work to stop fighting. A humanitarian response at scale. The release of all hostages. And the delivery of the two sovereign states of Israel and Palestine that ensures peace, security and justice for both nations.

Antisemitic hate crimes hit new high

SCOTTISH FIGURE DOUBLES IN TWELVE MONTHS

Today Community Security Trust (CST) publishes the Antisemitic Incidents Report 2023, which shows that last year CST recorded 4,103 anti-Jewish hate incidents across the UK, by far the largest-ever total recorded in this country.

This is an increase of 147% from the 1,662 incidents recorded in 2022 and is 81% higher than the previous record total of 2,261 incidents in 2021.

68 antisemetic incidents were reported in Scotland in 2023 – DOUBLE the count for 2022.

CST says it is almost entirely due to the massive surge of antisemitism following the 7 October Hamas terror attack on Israel.

For an extended breakdown, visit cst.org.uk/blog

Antisemitic_Incidents_Report_2023Download

Middle East Minister embarks on Gulf tour ‘to build momentum towards lasting peace and security’

LORD AHMED RETURNS TO MIDDLE EAST

  • Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon returns to the region to meet with key partners to seek long-term solutions to the situation in Israel and Gaza
  • Minister to discuss joint efforts to counter illegal Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea
  • He will also celebrate strengthened bilateral ties with Gulf allies, following announcement Gulf Nationals are now eligible to apply for the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme

The UK Minister for the Middle East will embark on a tour of the Middle East as the UK seeks to build momentum towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire in Gaza and lasting stability and security in the region.

Lord Ahmad will arrive in Oman today (Monday) for the first leg of the visit before travelling to Kuwait and then concluding the visit in Saudi Arabia.

The Minister is expected to meet with key figures, including Saudi Arabia’s Vice Foreign Minister, the Secretary General of the Muslim World League as well as Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Ambassador Abdullah Al-Yahya and Oman’s Undersecretary for Political Affairs Sheikh Khalifa Al Harthy.

The Minister will discuss how to ease the desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza, including through an immediate humanitarian pause in fighting leading to a sustainable, permanent ceasefire.

He will also outline the UK’s efforts to counter Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and make clear that illegal attacks by the Houthis are completely unacceptable.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for Middle East, said: “We want to see an end to the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible, and it is clear that wider escalation and instability in the region is in nobody’s interests.

“Our engagement with partners in the Middle East, including Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, is absolutely central to efforts towards achieving a sustainable, permanent ceasefire in Gaza and building wider regional security.”

The 16th session of the UK-Oman Joint Working Group will be co-chaired by Lord Ahmad alongside Oman’s Undersecretary for Political Affairs Sheikh Khalifa Al Harthy.

Meanwhile, in Kuwait, Lord Ahmad will co-chair the twentieth UK-Kuwait Joint Steering Group alongside His Excellency Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Lord Ahmad is also due to meet with the Palestinian Ambassador.

In Saudi Arabia, Lord Ahmad will meet with the Vice Foreign Minister and the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. 

This visit is the latest in a series of visits to the region by the Minister, including Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the UAE over the last fortnight.

The Foreign Secretary has recently visited the region multiple times, including Oman and Saudi Arabia to build on the UK’s call for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life.

The Minister will also welcome the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme which has opened for Gulf Cooperation Council and Jordanian nationals, making travel to the UK smoother and cheaper.

The scheme will allow unlimited visits to the UK over two years.

CAN Ahmed’s latest visit succeed where all other attempts by world leaders have failed? Er … let’s say it’s unlikely. And the body count will continue to rise.

The House of Commons adjourned for February recess on Thursday 8 February and will next sit on Monday 19 February at 2.30pm.