Military pause not enough to ease Gaza suffering, Lammy warns

Independent

4 days ago

Military pauses promised by Israel will not alone be enough to ease suffering in Gaza, David Lammy has warned as the UK joined efforts to airdrop aid into the territory.
The Foreign Secretary welcomed the resumption of humanitarian corridors in the enclave but called for access to supplies to be 'urgently' widened over the coming hours and days.
He said Israel's announcement that it would suspend fighting in three populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day and open secure routes for aid delivery to desperate Palestinians was 'essential but long overdue.'
'This announcement alone cannot alleviate the needs of those desperately suffering in Gaza,' the Foreign Secretary said in a statement on Sunday.
'We need a ceasefire that can end the war, for hostages to be released and aid to enter Gaza by land unhindered.
'Whilst airdrops will help to alleviate the worst of the suffering, land routes serve as the only viable and sustainable means of providing aid into Gaza.
'These measures must be fully implemented and further barriers on aid removed. The world is watching.'
Britain is working with Jordan to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance, with military planners deployed for further support.
However, the head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency has warned that such efforts are 'a distraction' that will fail to properly address deepening starvation in the strip, and could in some cases harm civilians.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said: 'A manmade 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.'
On Sunday, Israel announced military pauses to enable the 'safe movement' of food and medicine to Gaza via designated UN convoys amid mounting international alarm at humanitarian conditions in the strip.
Images emerging from Gaza in recent days of emaciated children have seen the country's government criticised for its conduct during the 21-month war.
Food experts have warned for months of the risk of famine as Israel continued to restrict aid, which it says is because Hamas siphons off goods.
Ceasefire talks between the two sides ground to a standstill this week after the US and Israel withdrew negotiating teams from Qatar, with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of a 'lack of desire' to reach an agreement.
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to press Donald Trump on the revival of talks as he meets the US President during his visit to Scotland on Monday.
The deal under discussion was expected to include a 60-day ceasefire, and aid supplies would be ramped up as conditions for a lasting truce were brokered.
Sir Keir will raise Washington's work with partners in Qatar and Egypt during his talks with Mr Trump and seek to discuss what more can be done to urgently bring about a ceasefire, it is understood.
Speaking to journalists at his Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire on Sunday, Mr Trump said that the UK was 'very much involved in terms of wanting something to happen.'
Asked about the prospect of restarting peace talks, he said: 'We're meeting about a lot of things… I think we're going to be discussing a lot about Israel.
'They're very much involved in terms of wanting something to happen.
'(The Prime Minister) is doing a very good job, by the way.'
Later in the week he will chair a Cabinet meeting, with further updates on the UK's next steps expected in the coming days as Mr Lammy prepares to attend a UN conference on a two-state solution in New York.
Speaking to broadcasters on Sunday, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray acknowledged that airdrops come with 'real limits and drawbacks' but that the situation was 'desperate and urgent.'
'Until the restrictions are lifted, until aid is able to get in at the scale and quantity that is needed, we need to be doing everything we possibly can to help,' he told Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show.
It comes after the Prime Minister held crisis talks with French and German counterparts on Saturday, during which Number 10 said they agreed 'it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently-needed ceasefire into lasting peace'.
A Downing Street readout of the call made no mention of Palestinian statehood, which Sir Keir has faced calls to immediately recognise after French President Emmanuel Macron announced his country would do so in September.
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.
The majority of those who have signed, 131, are Labour MPs.
The Government says it is a question of 'when, not if' statehood is recognised but that its immediate focus should be on getting aid into the territory.
Mr Murray said on Sunday: 'As a Government, we're committed to the recognition of Palestine, but we need to work with international partners and we need to use that moment to galvanise change.
'It needs to be part of a pathway to peace.'
He added: '140 countries have already recognised Palestine.
'The suffering is still continuing.'
Sir Keir and Mr Trump, who is in South Ayrshire on a private visit to his Turnberry golf course, are expected to meet on Monday.