By Manal Abdel Fattah
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that the United Kingdom is committed to supporting the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, adding: “We have already tripled our commitment to providing aid to the Palestinians this year.”
This came in his speech, today, Tuesday, after the arrival of the first British naval shipment of aid provided to the Gaza Strip to Egypt, which includes approximately 90 tons of thermal blankets and other basic materials.
Cameron added, according to a statement issued by the British Embassy in Cairo, that the aid being delivered today, Tuesday, is the first British sea shipment of aid to the Gaza Strip through Port Said Port in Egypt, which includes approximately 90 tons of vital supplies.
He added: “There is a need for aid to reach Gaza in much larger quantities to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people, and the UK will continue to work with its partners in the region to open more routes to deliver aid to Gaza, including through the proposed sea corridor between Cyprus, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.” ”
The first British sea shipment of aid provided to the Gaza Strip arrived in Egypt on Tuesday, including approximately 90 tons of thermal blankets and other basic materials.
According to a statement issued by the British Embassy in Cairo, the ship “Lime Bay” supporting the British Royal Fleet transported a shipment of life-saving materials coming from Cyprus, which included thermal blankets, shelter supplies, and medical supplies provided by the United Kingdom and the Republic of Cyprus.
The shipment included more than 10,000 thermal blankets, about 5,000 packages of shelter supplies, and medical supplies that will be transported to Gaza through the Rafah crossing.
The Egyptian Red Crescent Society will receive this aid from Port Said port and then transport it to Al-Arish, and then bring it through Rafah to Gaza for distribution by UNRWA.
This comes in the wake of the visit of the Foreign Minister to Al-Arish in Egypt, on December 21, to meet with representatives of the Egyptian Red Crescent Society who are coordinating relief efforts at the Rafah crossing, and the visit of the Minister of Defense to Cyprus and Israel earlier this month, last December 7, to urge the acceleration of… Bringing aid into Gaza.
Both the Secretary of State and the Minister of Defense have made clear that Israel must increase the flow of aid into Gaza and facilitate the delivery of relief on the ground, including through negotiated humanitarian truces.
The UK will continue to explore other ways to deliver aid, including the Cyprus initiative to establish a sea corridor between Cyprus and the occupied Palestinian territories, and supporting the work of the World Food Program by securing the humanitarian land corridor from Jordan via the Kerem Shalom crossing.
The UK has so far announced that it will spend nearly £60 million of additional funding for humanitarian aid in Gaza this financial year, tripling the current total annual budget allocated to the occupied Palestinian territories.
The latest £30 million funding package, announced by the Foreign Secretary on his recent visit to the region, has been allocated to trusted partners providing aid on the ground, including UNRWA, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the OCHA Crowdfunding Fund and the Red Cross. British, to support the Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent Societies.
