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UK's Cameron Tells Israel: More Aid Needs to Be Able to Enter Gaza

David Cameron (AA)
David Cameron (AA)
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UK's Cameron Tells Israel: More Aid Needs to Be Able to Enter Gaza

David Cameron (AA)
David Cameron (AA)

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that more aid trucks must be able to enter Gaza and an immediate humanitarian pause is needed to help those trapped in a "desperate situation".
Cameron, who is on a visit to the Middle East and met separately with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, announced Britain and Qatar are working together to get more aid into Gaza, with a first joint consignment containing tents being flown into Egypt on Thursday before traveling by road to Gaza, Reuters said.
Israel, which denies holding up aid, launched an air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas militants stormed across its border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking hostages, about 130 of whom remain in captivity.
Israel's response has left more than 25,000 dead and caused a severe humanitarian crisis, with most of Gaza's 2.3 million people left homeless and acutely short of food, water, medicine and fuel.
"The scale of suffering in Gaza is unimaginable. More must be done, faster, to help people trapped in this desperate situation," Cameron said. "We have trebled our assistance for Gaza ... But our efforts will only make a difference if aid gets to those who need it most."
"As I said to PM Netanyahu ... far more trucks need to be able to enter Gaza and more crossings need to open. We need an immediate humanitarian pause to get aid in and hostages out, followed by a sustainable ceasefire."
Cameron pushed Israeli leaders for the port of Ashdod to be used for the delivery of aid into Gaza, his office said.

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Death Toll in Israeli Strikes on Gaza Rises to 77 since Ceasefire Deal

Men and children stand next to a destroyed car amidst debris and rubble by a collapsed building at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Men and children stand next to a destroyed car amidst debris and rubble by a collapsed building at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Death Toll in Israeli Strikes on Gaza Rises to 77 since Ceasefire Deal

Men and children stand next to a destroyed car amidst debris and rubble by a collapsed building at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Men and children stand next to a destroyed car amidst debris and rubble by a collapsed building at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Israel airstrikes killed at least 77 people in Gaza overnight on Thursday, residents and authorities in the enclave said, hours after a ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced to bring an end to 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas.
The complex ceasefire accord emerged on Wednesday after mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the US to stop the war that has devastated the coastal territory and inflamed the Middle East.
The deal, scheduled to be implemented from Sunday, outlines a six-week initial ceasefire with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands have been killed. Hostages taken by militant group Hamas, which controls the enclave, would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel.
The deal also paves the way for a surge in humanitarian aid for Gaza, where the majority of the population has been displaced and is facing acute food shortages, food security experts warned late last year.
Rows of aid trucks were lined up in the Egyptian border town of El-Arish waiting to cross into Gaza, once the border is reopened, Reuters reported.
Israel's acceptance of the deal will not be official until it is approved by the country's security cabinet and government, and a vote was slated for Thursday, an Israeli official said.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed the meeting, accusing Hamas of making last-minute demands and going back on agreements.
"The Israeli cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.
Hamas senior official Izzat el-Reshiq said on Thursday the group is committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by mediators on Wednesday.
For some Palestinians, the deal could not come soon enough.
"We lose homes every hour. We demand for this joy not to go away, the joy that was drawn on our faces - don't waste it by delaying the implementation of the truce until Sunday," Gazan man Mahmoud Abu Wardeh said.