Britain pledges aid for Gaza while ‘arming the perpetrators’
Chris Doyle, the director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, has criticised the British government’s treatment of the suffering in Gaza as a “humanitarian crisis” rather than a result of the “acute atrocities” committed by Israel.
His comments came after the United Kingdom pledged $24m in funding for Gaza earlier this week, with $15m designated for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Food Programme.
“The UK is trying to help feed the victims, while at the same time arming the perpetrators,” Doyle told Al Jazeera.
‘Horror in Gaza must end’, says UNGA president
Philemon Yang said the international community’s demands are clear on Gaza, noting that 14 members of the UN Security Council voted for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave, only for the resolution to be blocked by the US.
“Once again, the Security Council is paralysed, unable to fulfil its primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security,” he said in a speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Wednesday.
The resolution, put forward by 10 non-permanent UNSC members, called for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in the 14-month conflict, while also demanding the release of captives held in Gaza.
Yang said in his speech that the “horror in Gaza must end”.
He called for the UNGA to take the lead on resolving the conflict due to the paralysis in the UNSC, and said the issue cannot be fixed through “endless war and occupation”.
The UNGA adopted two pro-Palestinian resolutions on Wednesday, including one calling for an international peace conference on the two-state solution – co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France – to be held in June.
Israel is blocking aid at Gaza crossings: UNRWA
Louise Wateridge, UNRWA’s emergency officer currently in Gaza, says the catastrophic humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate.
“We are seeing people begging for pieces of bread. Three women were trampled to death just a few days ago, waiting for pieces of bread,” Wateridge said, speaking in front of an empty UNRWA warehouse.
“UNRWA is not permitted by Israeli authorities to use multiple crossings in the Gaza Strip so the community might see that as: ‘Why is UNRWA not going to the crossing? Why is UNRWA not getting the flour?’ We are denied. We are denied,” she said.
Wateridge said people need everything, from water, food, shelter and warm clothes, “anybody else in the world takes for granted, that is what people need here”.
“Children – you cannot tell anymore if they are shivering from the cold or from the fear of drones and bombs around,” she said on X.
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