Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

(asked on 15th January 2024) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches civilians in Gaza.


Answered by
Andrew Mitchell Portrait
Andrew Mitchell
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
This question was answered on 26th January 2024

We are working closely with partners in international agencies and in the region to get aid to where it is desperately needed. Our focus must be on practical solutions that save lives, and we need a humanitarian pause now to allow humanitarian actors and Gazans to operate and move safely, and enable hostages to be released. Israel must also 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. We continue to press Israel to increase the flexibility and visibility on goods allowed into Gaza. It must:

  • Ensure effective systems to guarantee the safety of aid convoys, humanitarian operations and IDP returns, and facilitate access.
  • Ensure the UN has the people, vehicles, equipment and fuel to distribute aid safely across Gaza. This includes issuing visas.
  • Extend the opening hours and capacity of the Nitzana screening facility and Kerem Shalom checkpoint so more trucks, aid and fuel can enter Gaza.
  • Open the Kerem Shalom crossing 7 days a week.
  • Remove restrictions to ensure greater consistency on the goods allowed in.
  • Unencumbered access to aid coming from Jordan.
  • Open Ashdod Port as a route for aid to reach Gaza.
  • Open the Erez Crossing to allow direct access to the north of Gaza.
  • Restore water, fuel and electricity connections.

The Foreign Secretary has also appointed his Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Mark Bryson-Richardson, who is based in the region and is working intensively to address the blockages preventing more aid reaching Gaza.

Reticulating Splines