EXCLUSIVE: Stephen Doughty warned just a tenth of the aid set aside for Gaza was being allowed in, leaving Palestinian children without basic education or healthcare
Israel’s failure to let sufficient aid into Gaza is leading to death, starvation, and one of the world ’s worst humanitarian crises, the new Middle East Minister has said.
Stephen Doughty warned just a tenth of the aid set aside for Gaza was being allowed in, leaving children without basic education or healthcare.
Speaking to this newspaper from an Egyptian Red Crescent warehouse, in Al-Arish, near the Gaza border, Mr Doughty also insisted “actions matter” when asked about criticism over Labour not calling the situation a “genocide”.
He said: “It’s absolutely clear that not enough aid is getting in, there is a hugely horrific humanitarian situation ongoing in Gaza, and people are not getting the medicines, food or shelter that they need.
“I’ve seen here quite a lot of the medical assistance which is coming in. To think that some of that is not getting in to support people, these basic life-saving medicines, is deeply shocking and has an incredibly devastating consequence on the ground.
“We have been calling on the Israeli government to let more aid in to reduce the restrictions on logistical operations into Gaza, and to ensure that further tragedy can be averted in what is already one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
“A tenth of what could be getting in is getting in. It is a tragedy that more cannot get in, that more lives are being lost, and we face the starvation of people unable to get the medical support they need, let alone the support for children in Gaza who’ve lost everything and are unable to access basic education and healthcare”.
It came as the UK struck a new migration deal to speed up the return of Egyptian nationals with no right to be in the UK, reducing the time taken to return them by up to 90%.
By improving identity verification and documentation processes, the new partnership will see expected returns times drop from an average of 30 weeks to approximately three weeks.
Mr Doughty also addressed why Labour ministers were not calling the crisis, which has seen 73,000 people killed, a genocide.
He said: “It’s a long-standing policy of governments including Labour governments, this is for courts to decide but I am absolutely clear that what is happening in Gaza is a catastrophe, that we’ve seen immense human suffering, devastation and lives lost.
“Words are one thing, action is what matters, and I’ve seen how our action is making a difference here on the ground.