UK Government’s £10 million aid for Palestinians is ‘pitiful’, MPs say

The extra £10 million in humanitarian aid to Palestinians announced by Rishi Sunak is “pitiful”, MPs have said.

The Prime Minister said the UK was increasing its support by a third when he confirmed the sum on Monday.

But the cross-party International Development Committee (IDC) said it “falls far short” and called for a wider approach.

The committee has previously recommended a global strategy to support countries hosting long-term refugees, and said the crisis in the Middle East underscores the need for this.

In a report in May, the committee said: “The strategy should set out how the international community will support host countries to move from the initial humanitarian response to a long-term development approach that incorporates access to education, healthcare, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, social security, and essential infrastructure.”

But it was the only recommendation the Government did not fully accept as it argued existing frameworks for responsibility-sharing, like the Global Refugee Compact, offer the “best strategy”.

Chairwoman of the committee Sarah Champion MP said: “The incomprehensible horror unfolding in Israel and Gaza highlights the absolute necessity that the UK Government rethink its position on the one recommendation in our report on long-term refugees that it did not fully accept: that the UK should advocate for the creation of a new global strategy to provide support for countries that host refugees, with so many countries hosting refugees for decades.

“The additional £10 million in humanitarian aid the UK is offering for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is pitiful, it falls far short of such support the UK provided a few years ago.

“Furthermore, the Foreign Secretary has said the only credible crossing out of Gaza is at Rafah: even if that crossing were to open, the idea that Egypt can take, accommodate and provide for potentially in excess of one million desperate, displaced people as they stream into the Sinai desert is simply not credible.

“Without a global consensus on how to provide consistent and reliable support to countries hosting displaced people, those people will have no safe refuge. The situation is simply untenable, and the world must dig deep to respond with the humanity this desperate situation deserves.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: “The UK’s pledge of £10m for Palestinians is giving essential, lifesaving assistance, including food, water, health support and shelter, to some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

“We are a longstanding and significant donor of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, last year contributing £13m to UN agency UNRWA, who in 2022 reached 1.1 million people in Gaza and 58 thousand people in West Bank with emergency food.”