Mercy ships for Gaza
Temporary port will be set up to save starving kids from famine
BRITAIN will start moving essential food supplies into Gaza by sea in a bid to save thousands of children from starving to death.
The UK will join the US and other allies in establishing a maritime corridor to deliver aid directly into the territory, which is under siege from Israel.
President Joe Biden has announced American military personnel will build a temporary port on the Gaza coast, as international bodies warn of an impending famine if current restrictions continue.
But UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron warned the temporary harbour will take months to set up. He has urged Israel to allow supplies to be shipped into Ashdod, 15 miles north of the Strip, then driven over the border.
Mr Cameron said: “There’s a crisis. We need 500 trucks a day or more going into Gaza. In the last five days, we’ve been averaging 123. That’s not good enough and needs to be fixed now.
“And that can be fixed if Israel opens more crossing points, if they allow more UN staff into Gaza to help process the aid and get it round the different bits of Gaza. And they could also do things like full resumption of the water and the electricity into north and south Gaza.
“We’ve set out these points repeatedly and it’s incredibly frustrating these things haven’t happened when you think of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.”
In the coming days, the UK will rule if Israel is breaking international law, which could lead to Britain stopping arms sales to the country.
Hunger is most acute in northern Gaza, where at least 20 people – most of them children – have died from malnutrition and dehydration. Vulnerable children are also starving in the south.
At a hospital in Rafah, 16 babies have died of malnutrition over the past five weeks.
More than 30,000 Palestinians have died in Israeli attacks since October 7, when Hamas murdered 1,200 Israelis and took hundreds of hostages.
Yesterday, five people in Gaza were killed when aid drops malfunctioned and landed on people and homes, Palestinian officials said.
16 Number of babies that have starved in Rafah hospital in last 5 weeks