Humanitarian crisis in Gaza is ‘looming’, says government minister | Politics News
A humanitarian crisis in Gaza is “looming”, a government minister has said, as Israel continues its heavy bombardment of the territory ahead of a potential ground offensive.
Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said the UK was focused on doing “everything we can” to relieve the pressure on the ground for civilians in Gaza, where thousands of people are moving from the north to the south in anticipation of further action by Israel.
Mr Mitchell’s words were echoed by Labour’s shadow defence secretary John Healey, who also told Sky News there was the “risk of a looming humanitarian crisis”.
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It comes after Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, claimed on Sky News yesterday that there was “no humanitarian crisis in Gaza”.
“Israel is in charge of the safety of the Israelis, Hamas is in charge of the safety of the Palestinians,” Ms Hotovely told Sky’s Kay Burley on Monday.
“Hamas abuses every single support of the international community and instead of taking care of its people, it has created this underground tunnel of terror.”
An official at the World Health Organisation (WHO) said today that 2,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza while 11,000 have been injured as Israel carries out airstrikes in the territory in an attempt to eliminate Hamas following their deadly attack last weekend.
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There are still 199 hostages held captive in Gaza, including 10 Britons who are still missing after the incursion by Hamas, which killed 1,400 Israelis in the most deadly attack by the terror group in decades.
The UN has warned its operations in the area are on the “verge of collapse” and that body bags are running out.
In its latest situation update, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said water remains a “key issue” in Gaza and “people will start dying” without it.
“Concerns over dehydration and waterborne diseases are high given the collapse of water and sanitation services,” it said.
“Gaza is being strangled, and it seems that the world right now has lost its humanity,” said UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini.
“There is not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a litre of fuel that has been allowed into the Gaza Strip for the last eight days.”
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Yesterday, the enclave’s last remaining desalination plant was closed down, meaning seawater can no longer be turned into fresh water.
Meanwhile, fuel supplies are also “very limited”, it said, with hospital reserves expected to run out later today.
Calls have been made for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza, but the Rafah crossing on the Egypt border remains closed and Israel’s military has said it cannot provide assistance.
Asked about the Ms Tzipi Hotovely claim that there was no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Mr Mitchell said: “There is a looming humanitarian crisis, which is why we’re all so focused on trying to do everything we can to relieve it.
“Israel went to some lengths yesterday to make sure the water supply was restored, that obviously helps very significantly.
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Family of hostages speaks to Sky News
“I think it was the right thing to do and Israel should be credited with having taken that humanitarian action.”
Mr Healey was also pressed on whether he thought there was currently a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to which he replied: “There’s certainly the risk of a looming humanitarian crisis.
“That’s why we’ve been alongside a range of other international voices and the UK government urging Israel to make sure that basic supplies of water and electricity are restored, that humanitarian aid gets in, that civilians are protected, and that all leaders act in line with humanitarian law into whatever is required and take every precaution they can to protect civilians.”
He went on to say that Israel had an absolute right to defend itself, to rescue its hostages, to go after Hamas and to take out military equipment.
He added: “While Hamas has the capacity to threaten Israel and undertake the utterly abhorrent attacks we saw last weekend, then the Jewish people in Israel can never be safe.
“It’s important they do so in line with international law. It’s important they do so, taking every step to safeguard and protect civilians in this conflict.”
