Ed Davey calls for UK airdrops to get aid to Gazans

For immediate release 

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on Keir Starmer to launch a UK airdrop operation over Gaza, in response to the reports of mass starvation and the mounting number of deaths related to malnutrition. 

The operation would involve RAF planes supplying aid into Gaza from the air. Similar operations were undertaken by British pilots in Spring 2024, delivering hundreds of tonnes of aid to support humanitarian relief efforts in the Strip.

The call comes as over a hundred humanitarian organisations have warned that the population of Gaza is at risk of mass starvation as a result of the Israeli Government's failure to comprehensively reopen aid supply routes across the occupied territory.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

“It is simply inhumane that the entire population of Gaza is at risk of starvation as a direct result of Israel’s aid blockade. The time for words is over - now we must act. That should include the UK Government conducting a fresh set of aid airdrops over Gaza.

“Aid delivered by the air is no substitute for the reopening of supply routes by land. But the extent of the humanitarian catastrophe we are now witnessing requires us to leave no stone unturned in our efforts to get aid to Gazans.

“The Prime Minister should secure agreement from other international partners that they will follow the UK’s example and conduct their own airdrops. This must be alongside a redoubling of our collective effort to secure the total reopening of aid supply routes on the ground - the most effective and sustainable way to alleviate the suffering of Gazans.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

In 2024 the RAF delivered hundreds of tonnes of aid to support humanitarian relief efforts in the Strip, with the consent of the Israeli Government (see here).