ENDING arms sales to Israel would be the best form of humanitarian aid to Gaza, the Government has been warned as ministers were told Palestinians were living in “hell on Earth”.
It comes as, delivering an update on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Foreign Office minister David Rutley said the situation in Palestine was “dire”.
He told MPs: “The Iran attack and our support for Israel has not changed our focus on ensuring Israel meets its commitments to enable at least 500 aid trucks a day to enter Gaza, to open Ashdod port for aid deliveries, expand the Jordan land corridor, open a crossing into northern Gaza and extending hours at Kerem Shalom and Mitzi.
“We are pushing as hard as we can to get aid to Palestinian civilians and as this House knows we have been urging Israel at the highest levels to take immediate action on the bottlenecks holding up humanitarian relief.”
SNP foreign affairs spokesperson Brendan O’Hara (above) called on the UK Government to end arms sales to Israel – a key part of the party’s stance on the crisis in the Middle East.
The Argyll and Bute MP said: “The elephant in the room is export arms, export licences. And for how much longer is the UK going to send humanitarian aid to Gaza while simultaneously licensing weapon sales to Israel?
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“And wouldn’t the best form of humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza be to end supplying Israel with the weapons that will kill them?”
Rutley replied: “The latest assessment carried out by the Foreign Secretary leaves our position on export licences unchanged, this is consistent with the advice ministers have received and we’ll continue to keep this position under review.”
Elsewhere, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy (below) described the situation in Gaza as “hell on Earth”.
He said: “Aid sat waiting unable to reach those in need, some rotting where they stood, items removed from trucks without explanation, doctors are reusing single-use medical equipment from patients who have died.
“The UN report today said 10,000 women have been killed, this is a description of hell on Earth, and it cannot go on.”
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Lammy added that it was “shocking that in the face of famine” the UK hasn’t committed to future funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
He also accused the Government of “softening” its message to Benjamin Netanyahu on Rafah, adding: “Let us be clear, 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering there have nowhere safe to go. There can’t be a humanitarian operation to meet the scale of need, without an immediate ceasefire now.”
Rutley, filling in for the new "deputy foreign secretary" Andrew Mitchell, agreed that “more must be done”.
On UNRWA, he said the Government would consider once published a review by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna who is investigating Israeli allegations the agency had links with Hamas.
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