UK humanitarian aid to Gaza
An information note accounting for the UK's aid to Gaza since October 2023.
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We will publish an information note providing a descriptive account of the UK’s aid to Gaza, expected in May 2024.
Summary
On 7 October 2023, Hamas-led militant groups launched an attack on Israel from the Gaza strip killing more than 1,200 and taking 253 hostages. An Israeli military campaign immediately followed. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) estimates that nearly 85% of Gaza’s population are now displaced, the World Health Organisation says the health system in Gaza is barely surviving, and the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) states that famine is imminent as 1.1 million people, around half of the population of Gaza, are experiencing “catastrophic food insecurity”.
Before October 2023, the UK spent £25.7 million on aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) in 2022-23 with £27 million allocated for 2023-24. This included UK aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, to support access to humanitarian aid, education, health and other services.
The UK has announced an additional £70 million in humanitarian funding, treble the planned 2023-24 budget for the OPTs. In addition to the response led by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has supported the delivery of humanitarian aid. Total UK aid support for 2023-24 is more than £100 million.
However, restrictions on access into Gaza, the lack of humanitarian corridors to ensure safety of staff delivering aid and issues with distribution mean it is not clear what aid is reaching Gaza and who is receiving it. In addition, the UK has paused future funding to UNRWA, the largest aid agency in Gaza, in response to allegations that some of its staff were involved in the October attack.