Israel is preventing the entry of some vital supplies into Gaza, including medical equipment, and must do more to allow aid into the beleaguered Strip, Britain’s International Development Minister has told Sky News.
Speaking in Jerusalem during a multi-day visit, Anneliese Dodds said it is “absolutely critical” that the Israeli government remove impediments to aid.
“There certainly isn’t enough aid in Gaza currently,” she said.
“We also now see, with winter settling in, far too many people who don’t have access to waterproof shelter.
“That’s absolutely critical because without that, clearly, you’re going to see additional disease and other problems arising.”
Ms Dodds said that on a visit to neighbouring Jordan this week she had seen medical supplies that were not being allowed entry into Gaza.
In October, the UN said Gaza was at “breaking point” and aid entering was “at its lowest level for months”.
The UK recently announced a further £19m in funding for Gaza at a conference held in Cairo on Monday and £7m for UNRWA, the UN agency that provides support to Palestinians.
Support agency UNRWA ‘must be protected’
Ms Dodds said UNRWA “must be protected” despite a vote by the Israeli parliament to stop it operating in Israel, a ban that is set to come into force in a matter of months and could severely restrict the organisation’s ability to function in Gaza and the West Bank too.
Israel denies preventing access of aid into Gaza, blaming others for the failure to distribute aid and says that hundreds of trucks are waiting at the border.
A statement from the spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said: “Israel is facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and does not impose any restrictions on the quantity of aid entering the Strip.
“However, within the Gaza Strip international organisations are failing to distribute aid due to looting by Hamas, among other reasons.”
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UNRWA recently said it was “pausing” shipments of aid through the main checkpoint into Gaza for security reasons related to looting.
Earlier in the week, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy wrote a joint letter with his French and German counterparts describing the humanitarian situation as “unacceptable”.
Ms Dodds also reiterated the UK’s commitment to respect international law in relation to recent arrest warrants issued for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Clearly when it comes to the decisions made by the ICC as well as indeed the ICJ (International Court of Justice which is investigating claims of genocide) we are really clear that those decisions have been produced by an independent court. We are determined to follow that international law,” she said.
Meanwhile, US President-elect Donald Trump has picked former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, as his new ambassador to Jerusalem.
Mr Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, has previously been recorded saying that “there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian”.
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Asked if she agreed, Ms Dodds said the Labour government will recognise an independent Palestine “at the appropriate time”.
“It really is important that we see overall progress towards what the international community has said is the priority for a long time, but which has not delivered, and that is a two-state solution,” she said.
“We have to aim at ultimately that future where we have a safe and sovereign Israel and safe and sovereign Palestine as well, where ultimately Israelis and Palestinians can be living side-by-side in states that they can call their own.”
