150 tonnes of UK aid enters Gaza

• 150 tonnes of UK aid enters Gaza today, 13 March, including tents and hygiene supplies.
• A UK field hospital will arrive this week to provide life-saving medical care.
• Foreign Secretary also announces further £10 million in aid funding, bringing UK support to more than £100 million this financial year.

GAZA CITY, Gaza – Around 150 tonnes of UK aid, including more than 13,000 blankets and 840 family-sized tents, has entered Gaza today, where the United Nations [UNICEF] will distribute them to those in need. In addition, a full field hospital, provided by UK Aid funding to UK-Med, will arrive this week. The facility can be adapted according to needs on the ground and usually includes a pharmacy, triage area, major injuries and resuscitation unit, and maternity care tent.

“The field hospital left Manchester on 5 March and is on route to Gaza. This facility can be operational in as little as 48 hours and will be able to treat more than 100 patients a day. It will be staffed by both local health workers and international medics, including many from the UK, on the UK-Med Register,” Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, added. “Alongside the latest deliveries of aid, the Foreign Secretary has announced a further £10 million in aid funding for the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), bringing the total spend to over £100 million this financial year. This funding will support UN agencies on the ground to deliver lifesaving aid and will also provide core relief items, such as tents, for the most vulnerable.”

Foreign Secretary David Cameron, said:  

“Too many people in Gaza are suffering. No one should be without basic amenities like shelter and bedding, and everyone deserves the dignity that basic hygiene kits provide. Our largest aid delivery, combined with a new UK funded field hospital, will save lives.  

“But an immediate pause in the fighting is the only way to get aid into Gaza in the quantities desperately needed. This will also allow for the safe release of hostages.  

“We could then work towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting or loss of life.”

Today’s additional 150 tonnes of UK core relief items for UNICEF will include 840 family tents, 13,440 blankets, almost 3,000 shelter kits, and shelter-fixing kits, 6,000 sleeping mats and more than 3,000 dignity kits to support women and girls.

“An estimated 3.1 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the OPTs, with over half a million at risk from famine. The UK is committed to ensuring aid reaches those who need it most, as Palestinians continue to face a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The foreign secretary has been clear that Israel must increase capacity to safely distribute aid within Gaza. This includes opening a land crossing in the north and issuing more visas to UN staff who are capable of delivering aid when it arrives in Gaza.”

Ahead of this new funding, the UK had previously trebled its aid commitment to the OPTs. UK funding has supported the work of partners including the British Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and Egyptian Red Crescent Society (ERCS) to deliver vital supplies.