The UK is delivering the funds through the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which has warned of worsening famine among the 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza
The UK will donate an additional £8.5 million ($11.4 million) for Gaza humanitarian assistance if Israel allows a “flood” of aid to enter the Palestinian enclave, said Development Minister Jenny Chapman. It is part of a £101 million UK package for the Occupied Territories this year.
The funds will “help address urgent need” in Gaza, said Chapman. “It is unacceptable that so much aid is waiting at the border — the UK is ready to provide more through our partners, and we demand that the government of Israel allows more aid in safely and securely,” she added.
“The insufficient amount of supplies getting through is causing appalling and chaotic scenes as desperate civilians try to access tiny amounts of aid.”
The UK is delivering the funds through the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which has warned of worsening famine among the 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Starmer has asked Israel to reconsider its plan to take control of Gaza City, which he branded as “wrong”. “This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages,” he said, warning that it “will only bring more bloodshed”.
The condemnation came hours after Israel’s military announced it will “take control” of Gaza City under a plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and approved by his security cabinet. Starmer’s government has become increasingly vocal in its demands for Israel to deescalate its war in the Palestinian territory, citing the humanitarian crisis there.
Last week, he pledged that London would formally recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes “substantive steps”, including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza. In his statement, Starmer said Israel’s “decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is wrong, and we urge it to reconsider immediately”.
“Every day the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens and hostages taken by Hamas are being held in appalling and inhuman conditions. What we need is a ceasefire, a surge in humanitarian aid, the release of all hostages by Hamas and a negotiated solution.”
Starmed noted that the UK and its allies “are working on a long-term plan to secure peace in the region as part of a two-state solution”. “But without both sides engaging in good faith in negotiations, that prospect is vanishing before our eyes,” he added. “Our message is clear: a diplomatic solution is possible, but both parties must step away from the path of destruction.”
On Saturday, the UK and four allies have criticised Israel’s decision to launch a new large-scale military operation in Gaza – warning it will “aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation” in the territory.
The foreign ministers of Britain, Australia, Germany, Italy, France, Canada, Austria, Norway, and New Zealand said in a joint statement that the offensive will “endanger the lives of hostages” and “risk violating international humanitarian law”.
In their joint statement, the UK and its allies said they “strongly reject” the decision, adding: “It will endanger the lives of the hostages and further risk the mass displacement of civilians. “The plans that the government of Israel has announced risk violating international humanitarian law. Any attempts at annexation or of settlement extension violate international law.”
The countries also called for a permanent ceasefire as “the worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in Gaza”. It comes it was found that airdrops of aid are making little difference to Gaza’s hunger crisis, and pose serious risks to the population – with a father-of-two killed by a falling package.
Meanwhile, France, Canada, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations all criticised Israel’s plan for a full occupation of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “expressed his disappointment” with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s in phone call on Friday after Berlin decided it would stop selling arms to Israel.
In a post on X, the Israeli prime minister’s office added: “Instead of supporting Israel’s just war against Hamas, which carried out the most horrific attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, Germany is rewarding Hamas terrorism by embargoing arms to Israel.”
Earlier on Friday, the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, criticised Keir Starmer after he said Israel’s decision to “escalate its offensive” in Gaza is “wrong”. Huckabee wrote on X: “So Israel is expected to surrender to Hamas & feed them even though Israeli hostages are being starved? Did UK surrender to Nazis and drop food to them? Ever heard of Dresden, PM Starmer? That wasn’t food you dropped. If you had been PM then UK would be speaking German!”
