UK Jordan Gaza Aid

UK Jordan Gaza aid

London — The U.K. is working with Jordan on plans to air drop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has confirmed in a call with French and German counterparts.

He held emergency talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Saturday amid mounting global anger at the starving population in Gaza.

In a readout of the call, the U.K. government said the leaders had agreed “it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace”.

“The prime minister set out how the U.K. will also be taking forward plans to work with partners such as Jordan to air drop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance,” the readout said.

However, the head of the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency warned airdrops were “a distraction and screensmoke” that would fail to reverse deepening starvation in Gaza, and could in some cases harm civilians.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said on Saturday: “A man-made hunger can only be addressed by political will. Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need.”

Israel said on Friday it will allow airdrops of aid by foreign countries into Gaza to alleviate starvation in the Palestinian territory, where there is widespread devastation.

The readout made no mention of the issue of Palestinian statehood, which the prime minister has faced calls to immediately recognize after French President Macron confirmed his country would do so in September.

However, Downing Street said the leaders had committed to “work closely together on a plan” to “pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region.”

Once the proposals have been “worked up,” they will seek to advance them with other key partners, including in the region, the readout said.

Some 221 MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents have signed a letter pressuring the Government to follow suit at a U.N. meeting next week.

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Macron’s announcement, which saw him commit to formally recognizing Palestinian sovereignty at the U.N. General Assembly in September, “doesn’t matter” as he left the U.S. for a visit to Scotland.

Sarah Champion, the senior Labour MP who organized the letter by parliamentarians, said recognition “would send a powerful symbolic message that we support the rights of the Palestinian people.”

Other senior Commons figures who signed the letter include Labour select committee chairs Liam Byrne, Dame Emily Thornberry and Ruth Cadbury.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, as well as Tory former minister Kit Malthouse, and Sir Edward Leigh — Parliament’s longest-serving MP — also signed it.

The majority of those who have signed, 131, are Labour MPs.

The government has so far said its immediate focus is on getting aid into the territory and insisted that recognizing sovereignty must be done as part of a peace process.

Charities operating in Gaza have said Israel’s blockade and ongoing military offensive are pushing people there towards starvation, warning that they are seeing their own workers and Palestinians “waste away”.

But Lazzarini said air drops can be dangerous as they can fall on top of civilians, and that being able to drive aid through is more effective and safer.

“Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians,” he said. “It is a distraction and screensmoke.”

The prime minister will meet the U.S. president during his trip to Scotland, where he arrived on Friday evening.

U.S.-led peace talks in Qatar were cut short on Thursday, with Washington’s special envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of a “lack of desire to reach a ceasefire.”

The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Aid supplies would be ramped up and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting truce.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s opposite number Priti Patel said she had “repeatedly pressed” him on “what specific and deliverable solutions he is trying to advance on aid”.

“The British government needs to be leveraging its influence and the U.K.’s considerable aid expertise to bring about practical solutions that alleviate the dire and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza,” she said.

“The priority must be to get as much aid in as possible, delivered safely and exclusively to innocent civilians.

“Diplomacy is about finding solutions, not just issuing condemnations.”