Oxfam Reaction to the Independent Commission for Aid Impact on UK humanitarian aid to Gaza

“People in Gaza have been blockaded to the brink of famine. It is unacceptable that aid funded by the British taxpayer is not effectively reaching the people and families so desperately in need. Our government now needs to do the right thing, show its moral leadership and urgently exert every effort to put pressure on Israel to allow food, water and medicine to be delivered to those suffering so desperately.

“Needless to say, Oxfam GB sees a deeply concerning ethical contradiction between the UK’s ineffective efforts around humanitarian diplomacy and aid delivery to Gaza and its continued commitment to selling and delivering arms components to Israel that are being used to such devastating impact on so many lives.

“With Gazans under constant threat of aerial bombardment, it is obviously a very complex proposition to get aid in. In the last week alone, Israel has displaced 900,000 people from Rafah. People have been forced to move to places that were already overcrowded, and are having to survive in desperate, unsanitary conditions, with very little to eat. Meanwhile, thousands of trucks of life-saving aid are backed up at the Rafah border since Israel cut off this crucial life line. These land routes for aid must be reopened and aid drastically scaled up. It is not adequate or effective to rely on a maritime corridor or air drops.

“The Government also needs to face the reality that UNRWA is indispensable if Gazans are to get the aid they need. The UK should urgently follow the lead of other donors including Australia, Canda, France and Sweden and restart funding to UNRWA.

“In the meantime, the Government must use every diplomatic and economic measure it can to pressure Israel to reopen the land crossings and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, so lifesaving aid can get in at scale and to allow for the safe release of all Israeli hostages and unlawfully detained Palestinians.”

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For more information or interview requests contact: Oxfam Media Unit / +44 (0)7748 761 999 / media.unit@oxfam.org.uk