UK announces more aid for Gaza as Israel proposes expansion of conflict
Development minister Baroness Jenny Chapman said the money would 'help address urgent need' in Gaza, but only if Israel allowed the region to be 'flooded with aid'.
She said: 'It is unacceptable that so much aid is waiting at the border – the UK is ready to provide more through our partners, and we demand that the government of Israel allows more aid in safely and securely.
'The insufficient amount of supplies getting through is causing appalling and chaotic scenes as desperate civilians try to access tiny amounts of aid.'
The money, to be delivered through the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is part of a £101 million UK commitment to the Occupied Palestinian Territories this year.
OCHA has warned of widespread hunger among Gaza's 2.1 million people, along with difficulties accessing water amid a severe heatwave and 'significant impediments and other delays' to UN efforts to provide aid.
The UK's announcement comes after Foreign Secretary David Lammy joined his counterparts from Australia, Italy, Germany and New Zealand to condemn Israeli plans to escalate the conflict by taking over Gaza City.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Friday that Israel would seek 'the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip', as well as 'Israeli security control in the Gaza Strip' and 'the establishment of an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority'.
In their joint statement, the foreign ministers said the plans 'risk violating international law' and 'any attempts at annexation or of settlement extension violate international law.'
They added: 'We are united in our commitment to the implementation of a negotiated two-state solution as the only way to guarantee that both Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace, security, and dignity.
'A political resolution based on a negotiated two-state solution requires the total demilitarisation of Hamas and its complete exclusion from any form of governance in the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian Authority must have a central role.'
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described Israel's plans as 'wrong' and called for 'a ceasefire, a surge in humanitarian aid, the release of all hostages by Hamas and a negotiated solution'.
A UN Security Council meeting to discuss Israel's plan had been due to take place on Saturday, but has been rescheduled to Sunday at about 3pm UK time.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Essex council in High Court bid to stop asylum seekers being housed at hotel
An Essex council has applied for an interim High Court injunction in a bid to stop asylum seekers from being housed at a hotel. Documents relating to the Bell Hotel in Epping were lodged with the High Court in London on Tuesday, Epping Forest District Council said in a statement. A series of protests have been held outside the hotel in recent weeks, after an asylum seeker was charged with allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, denies sexual assault and is due to stand trial this month. Council leader Chris Whitbread said the use of the hotel as asylum accommodation risks causing 'irreparable harm to the local community'. The council had unanimously voted last month to urge the Government 'to immediately and permanently close' the hotel 'for the purposes of asylum processing'. The Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Roger Hirst, had also reportedly called on the Home Secretary to review the use of the hotel for housing asylum seekers. Read more 'Tinderbox': Charity boss says migrant hotels must stop after Epping violence Two more men charged following violent disorder at Epping migrant hotel Political leaders in Essex urge Home Secretary to close Epping 'migrant hotel' In a statement, Mr Whitbread said: 'The current situation cannot go on. If the Bell Hotel was a nightclub, we could have closed it down long ago. 'So far as the council is aware, there is no criminal record checking of individuals who might only have been in the country a matter of days before being housed at the hotel. 'There are five schools and a residential care home within the vicinity of the hotel. The use by the Home Office of the premises for asylum seekers poses a clear risk of further escalating community tensions already at a high, and the risk of irreparable harm to the local community. 'This will only increase with the start of the new school year. We are frustrated that the Home Office continues not to listen.' He continued: 'In our view, placing asylum seekers in the Bell Hotel is a clear breach of planning permission. It is not in use as a hotel, and it doesn't function as a hotel. 'The establishment of a centre to accommodate asylum seekers in this particular location, in close proximity to five schools, a residential care home, and the shops and amenities of the market town of Epping, is not appropriate in planning terms.' Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch claimed women in the area have 'stopped jogging in the park because there are men lurking in bushes', because of concerns about the hotel. Following a visit to Epping on Monday, Mrs Badenoch told reporters: 'The people who I spoke to are having a lot of concerns about safety. Mothers told me that they're worried about their daughters going to school. They're getting harassed. They stopped jogging in the park because there are men lurking in bushes. 'Communities shouldn't have to be paying for this. And what I saw in Epping really, really upset me. I can see why many of those people are protesting.'
CNN
8 minutes ago
- CNN
Israel says UN chief warned it could be listed in upcoming sexual violence report
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned Israel about potentially listing the country's armed forces in an upcoming UN report on sexual violence, according to the spokesperson for Israel's mission to the UN. 'I am putting Israeli armed and security forces on notice for potential listing in the next reporting cycle, due to significant concerns of patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the United Nations,' Guterres wrote in the letter sent to Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, on Monday. The UN's Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict publishes an annual report titled Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, in which it documents sexual violence committed in armed conflict. Guterres' letter to Danon, which was shared by Israel's mission to the UN, said the UN is concerned about 'credible information of violations by Israeli armed and security forces, perpetrated against Palestinians in several prisons, a detention center and military base.' 'Due to consistent denial of access to United Nations monitors,' the letter said, 'it has been challenging to make a definitive determination regarding patterns, trends and systematicity of sexual violence in these situations.' Guterres urged Israel to take 'necessary measures to ensure immediate cessation of all acts of sexual violence.' A 2024 report by leading Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said that sexual violence was repeatedly carried out by soldiers or prison guards against Palestinian detainees. The IDF repeatedly rejected allegations of systematic abuse. Israel runs several prison facilities that hold Palestinians, including Sde Teiman and Ketziot Prison in the country's Negev desert, Megiddo and Gilboa near the West Bank, Etzion in Jerusalem, and more. Last summer, Israel transferred hundreds of Palestinian detainees out of Sde Teiman following a petition from human rights groups – which drew heavily on CNN reporting about the makeshift prison – for it to be shut down. In September, the High Court of Justice warned the prison must abide by the law, but did not order the government to shut it down. Responding to the letter on Tuesday, Danon said the 'Secretary-General chooses once again to adopt as their word baseless accusations, which are steeped in biased publications,' urging the UN to focus on sexual violence committed by Hamas. In March, a UN commission found that Israel had 'increasingly employed sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence' against Palestinians 'as part of a broader effort to undermine their right to self-determination.' It also accused Israel of carrying out 'genocidal acts through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities.' Israel's mission to the UN in Geneva strongly rejected the statement at the time, calling it a 'shameless attempt to incriminate' the Israeli military. Last year, a UN team also found 'clear and convincing' information that hostages in Gaza were sexually abused and there are 'reasonable grounds' to believe the sexual violence was ongoing there. Pramila Patten, the UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, said the team had found 'reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence, including rape and gang rape occurred' during Hamas' October 7 terror attack in Israel. It amounted to the UN's most definitive finding on allegations of sexual assault in the aftermath of the attack. CNN's Catherine Nicholls contributed reporting.
New York Times
8 minutes ago
- New York Times
Independent English football regulator fast-tracked for November start by UK government
The Labour Party is fast-tracking secondary legislation to ensure the powers of the new independent football regulator (IFR) will be switched on by November 1. The move, led by Lisa Nandy — the UK's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport — will increase pressure on under-fire owners such as Sheffield Wednesday's Dejphon Chansiri to sell the club before the regulator becomes legally established. Advertisement Under a new bill, owners can be stripped of their right to run clubs and the IFR can sanction takeovers at a price of their choice. Though the authority is yet to form a board to work with chair David Kogan and has distance to cover before it becomes fully operational and able to work with clubs so they can understand new requirements, progress has been made with the recruitment of a CEO. Richard Monks, who spent 18 years at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is close to being announced and will begin in the role shortly. A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) would not confirm Monks' hire but explained that economic distress at Wednesday, as well as Morecambe, who are suspended from the fifth-tier National League following their relegation from League Two last season, has increased the pace at which the government has been working through the law since July 21, when the Football Governance Act was passed. 'The ongoing challenges at Morecambe, Sheffield Wednesday and many other clubs before them show exactly why the Football Governance Act was needed and why we acted to push the legislation forward in the face of opposition,' the spokesperson said. 'The launch of the IFR is a priority. We recognise the need to move forward as quickly as possible whether that be implementing the required secondary legislation or appointing the regulator's board.' Labour's sports minister, Stephanie Peacock met with Morecambe fans last week and is in touch with Wednesday supporters to set up a discussion. Meanwhile, DCMS suggests engagement with Morecambe and Sheffield members of parliament is ongoing. () Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
