UK says restrictions on aid for Gaza 'unacceptable', should be lifted immediately

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - A British minister on Tuesday said the restrictions by the Israeli government on aid for people in Gaza are “unacceptable.”

Minister for Development Anneliese Dodds’ remarks came in the House of Commons when asked by Labour MP David Smith about the worsening situation in Gaza.

Smith said that the UN is anticipating that this year, up to 60,000 children under the age of five in Gaza could be facing acute malnutrition, asking the minister whether she agreed with him that the Israeli restrictions on the flow of essential aid are “completely unacceptable and should be lifted immediately.”

Dodds said that they were witnessing “a very disturbing impact from those restrictions.”

“We have seen it in the famine assessment, in the levels of malnutrition and ill health… in Gaza, winter, of course, is now upon us, making that situation even worse. Those restrictions on aid are unacceptable. They must be lifted immediately,” she added.

The ICC last week announced the arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024" in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack last year, killing over 44,250 people, most of them women and children, and injuring over 104,700.

The onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the enclave, and a deliberate blockade has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, pushing the population to the brink of starvation.

Besides the hundreds of thousands in northern Gaza in danger, international organizations and aid groups have warned that the entire population of Gaza – over 2 million people – is at risk of famine due to Israel’s continuing relentless attacks and strict blockade.