British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Wednesday he had pressured Israel to increase aid flows to Gaza, which is suffering a severe humanitarian crisis after five months of war.
The United Nations warns that civilians in Gaza are on the brink of famine due to a lack of food, water, fuel and medicine due to the blockade imposed by Israel following the bloody Hamas attack on October 7.
“We still don’t see any improvement on the ground. “That has to change,” Cameron said during a meeting with Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet.
Cameron wrote on a social media page
The chancellor also told Gantz that the United Kingdom was “deeply concerned” about the possible Israeli offensive in Rafah, a city in the far south of the Gaza Strip where 1.5 million people are crowded together in squalid conditions.
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“The UK supports Israel’s right to defend itself. However, as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel has a legal responsibility to ensure that civilians receive assistance,” he added.
The war in Gaza was sparked after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
They also kidnapped around 250 people. Israel estimates that 99 of them still live in Gaza and 31 have died.
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Israel's offensive launched in response has already left at least 30,717 dead in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry of the territory ruled by the Islamist movement.
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