UK working on plans to air drop aid into Gaza, PM tells Macron and Merz

South Wales Guardian

4 days ago

The Prime Minister held emergency talks with Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz on Saturday amid mounting global anger at the humanitarian conditions in the enclave.
In a readout of the call, Number 10 said the leaders had agreed 'it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently-needed ceasefire into lasting peace'.
'The Prime Minister set out how the UK will also be taking forward plans to work with partners such as Jordan to air drop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance,' a Downing Street spokesperson said.
However, the head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency warned airdrops were 'a distraction and screensmoke' that would fail to reverse deepening starvation in Gaza, and could in some cases harm civilians.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said on Saturday: 'A man-made hunger can only be addressed by political will. Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need.'
Israel said on Friday it will allow airdrops of aid by foreign countries into Gaza to alleviate suffering in the Palestinian territory, where there is widespread devastation.
The readout made no mention of the issue of Palestinian statehood, which the Prime Minister has faced calls to immediately recognise after French President Mr Macron confirmed his country would do so in September.
However, Downing Street said the leaders had committed to 'work closely together on a plan' to 'pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region'.
Once the proposals have been 'worked up', they will seek to advance them with other key partners, including in the region, the readout said.
Some 221 MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents have signed a letter pressuring the Government to follow suit at a UN meeting next week.
Donald Trump suggested Mr Macron's announcement, which saw him commit to formally recognising Palestinian sovereignty at the UN General Assembly in September, 'doesn't matter' as he left the US for a visit to Scotland.
Sarah Champion, the senior Labour MP who organised the letter by parliamentarians, said recognition 'would send a powerful symbolic message that we support the rights of the Palestinian people'.
Other senior Commons figures who signed the letter include Labour select committee chairs Liam Byrne, Dame Emily Thornberry and Ruth Cadbury.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, as well as Tory former minister Kit Malthouse, and Sir Edward Leigh – Parliament's longest-serving MP – also signed it.
The majority of those who have signed, 131, are Labour MPs.
The Government has so far said its immediate focus is on getting aid into the territory and insisted that recognising sovereignty must be done as part of a peace process.
Charities operating in Gaza have said Israel's blockade and ongoing military offensive are pushing people there towards starvation, warning that they are seeing their own workers and Palestinians 'waste away'.
But Mr Lazzarini said airdrops can be dangerous as they can fall on civilians, and that being able to drive aid through is more effective and safer.
'Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians,' he said. 'It is a distraction and screensmoke.'
The Prime Minister will meet the US president during his trip to Scotland, where he arrived on Friday evening.
US-led peace talks in Qatar were cut short on Thursday, with Washington's special envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of a 'lack of desire to reach a ceasefire'.
The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Aid supplies would be ramped up and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting truce.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy's opposite number Dame Priti Patel said she had 'repeatedly pressed' him on 'what specific and deliverable solutions he is trying to advance on aid'.
'The British Government needs to be leveraging its influence and the UK's considerable aid expertise to bring about practical solutions that alleviate the dire and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza,' she said.
'The priority must be to get as much aid in as possible, delivered safely and exclusively to innocent civilians.
'Diplomacy is about finding solutions, not just issuing condemnations.'
Meanwhile, Israel's ambassador to the UK said recognising Palestinian statehood would 'reward' hostage-taking and killing by Hamas.
'Recognising a Palestinian state in a post-October 7 reality would be nothing less than a reward for terrorism,' she wrote in the Telegraph.