The UK is working with Jordan on plans to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance, Sir Keir Starmer has announced.<\/p>\n
But the UN has warned the focus on airdrops is a \u2018distraction\u2019, and could lead to more deaths in the wartorn strip. <\/p>\n
The prime minister held emergency talks with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday amid mounting global anger at the starving population in the besieged territory.<\/p>\n
In a readout of the call, a spokesperson for Sir Keir said the leaders had agreed \u201cit would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace\u201d.<\/p>\n
The three leaders agreed the situation in Gaza is \u201cappalling\u201d, the readout said, adding there is an \u201curgent need for an immediate ceasefire, for Israel to lift all restrictions on aid and urgently provide those suffering in Gaza with the food they so desperately need\u201d.<\/p>\n
Starving Palestinians desperately seek food at an aid kitchen in Gaza City on Saturday (Reuters)\u201cThe prime minister set out how the UK will also be taking forward plans to work with partners such as Jordan to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n
Israel said on Friday it will allow airdrops of aid by foreign countries into Gaza to alleviate starvation in the Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n
However, the head of the United Nations’ Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA has criticised aid airdrops, saying it \u201cwill not reverse the deepening starvation” in Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians,\u201d Philippe Lazzarini said. \u201cIt is a distraction and smokescreen.\u201d<\/p>\n
From left: Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and Keir Starmer in The Hague on Friday (PA)Instead, he suggested that the starvation in Gaza can only be solved through political will. “Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Lazzarini said UNRWA has the equivalent of 6,000 trucks in Jordan and Egypt waiting for the green light to enter Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cDriving aid through is much easier, more effective, faster, cheaper and safer,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s more dignified for the people of Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n
It comes as Israeli airstrikes and shootings overnight killed at least 25 people, according to Palestinian health officials.<\/p>\n
The majority of victims were killed by gunfire as they waited for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel, staff at Shifa hospital said, where the bodies were brought.<\/p>\n
The UN and experts have warned that Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine, with reports of increasing numbers of people dying from causes related to malnutrition.<\/p>\n
Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip said on Saturday that five people in Gaza have died due to famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours.<\/p>\n
Palestinians carry the body of a person who was killed while trying to reach aid trucks (AP)Gaza\u2019s Government Media Office also warned of an \u201cunprecedented and imminent humanitarian disaster\u201d being committed by Israel. <\/p>\n
It said 100,000 children aged two years and under, including 40,000 babies, are at risk of death within days due to a lack of baby formula and nutritional supplements.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military says it is allowing aid into the enclave with no limit on the number of trucks that can enter. However, the UN said this is hampered by Israeli military restrictions on its movements and incidents of criminal looting.<\/p>\n
Israel is facing increased international pressure to end the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza as US-led peace talks in Qatar were cut short on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Washington\u2019s special envoy Steve Witkoff accused Hamas of a \u201clack of desire to reach a ceasefire\u201d.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Aid supplies would be ramped up, and the two sides would negotiate on a lasting truce under the deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The UK is working with Jordan on plans to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance, Sir Keir Starmer has announced. But the UN has warned the focus on airdrops is a \u2018distraction\u2019, and could lead to more deaths in the wartorn strip. The prime minister held emergency talks with French president […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n