Yesterday (Monday 20th November) during the Ministry of Defence Oral Questions I asked the Defence Secretary why there have been so few RAF humanitarian flights carrying vital UK humanitarian aid to Gaza. It’s vital we get more aid into Gaza to alleviate suffering for all concerned.
The Government must do more to ensure that aid gets to those who urgently need it. This is something I will keep a very close eye on.
You can read the exchange below:
Janet Daby (Lab, Lewisham East): For more than a month we have witnessed a distressing humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza. It is welcome that the RAF is flying UK humanitarian aid to the region, but so far we have seen only three RAF flights. When will the Government increase the number of flights and the amount of aid given to Palestinians, who have suffered so much and who deserve, at the very least, the basic essentials to try to survive?
Secretary of State for Defence: The issue is not getting the aid to the region; we could fly more aircraft. The issue is getting the aid into Gaza itself, and in that regard we have the problem of Hamas, a terrorist organisation not in the least bit interested in looking after the citizens of Gaza, and, of course, the problem of the Rafah crossing, which is opened and closed on a fairly arbitrary basis. However, I can assure the hon. Lady that we are working very hard with all the different bodies and Governments in the region to get more of that aid in as quickly as possible. The capacity constraint is not flying it to the region.