David Cameron: Israel to blame for some of aid blockages into Gaza

It comes after a group of pro-Israel Conservative MPs accused the Foreign Secretary of “sniping” at Israel over its war in Gaza, with the group due to meet Cameron on Tuesday.

Speaking in the House of Lords on Tuesday afternoon, Cameron (below) said: “Getting more aid into Gaza requires the work of more than just Israel taking the relevant steps, but Israel is the country that could, I think, make the greatest difference because some of the blockages and the screening problems and all the rest of it are their responsibility.”

He highlighted the example of 18 trucks sent from Jordan being held for 18 days at a crossing.

Cameron also called for more visas to be issued to UN workers to ensure humanitarian assistance could be distributed in Gaza.

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This comes as external affairs secretary Angus Robertson (below) urged the UK Government to resume funding for UNRWA, the UN agency which provides humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The UK Government is yet to respond to Robertson’s letter, although Cameron called for Israel to remove restrictions on aid so that more humanitarian assistance could reach Gaza.

“We are doing all we can to increase aid into Gaza,” Cameron said on Tuesday.

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“We have been collaborating with Jordan on humanitarian aid drops and are now working with partners to operationalise a maritime aid corridor from Cyprus. However, this cannot substitute delivery by land which remains the best way to get aid in at the scale that is needed.”

He added: “Israel must remove restrictions on aid and restore electricity, water and telecommunications.

“If Israel really wanted to help they could open Ashdod port which is in Israel, which is a fully functioning port that could really maximise the delivery of aid from Cyprus straight into Israel and therefore into Gaza.”

On distributing aid in Gaza, he said: “This is one of the trickiest pieces of the jigsaw. One of the things Israel needs to do is give out more visas to UN workers, who are capable of distributing the aid when it arrives into Gaza.”

More than 31,000 Palestinians are believed to have been killed as a result of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, whilst 85% of the population have been displaced.

Scores of Palestinians were killed last month during a chaotic aid delivery in the north organized by Israeli troops, who fired on the crowd.

Israel said most of those killed were trampled to death, while Palestinian officials said most had been shot.

Israel, which controls Gaza’s coastline and all but one of its land crossings, says it supports efforts to deliver aid by sea and will inspect all cargo before it sets sail for Gaza.