Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK is working with Jordan on plans to drop aid into Gaza by air, after more than a third of MPs signed a letter calling on the government to recognise a Palestinian state.
A small team of British military planners and logisticians is being made available to help Jordan get aid into the territory.
On Friday, Israel said it would allow foreign countries to deliver air supplies in the coming days amid mounting international concern about humanitarian conditions in the territory.
However, the UN and aid groups have consistently said airdrops will not get sufficient supplies into Gaza, while the falling crates can cause injury and chaos on the ground.
Sir Keir has also said the UK was “urgently accelerating efforts” to evacuate children who need critical medical assistance to the UK for treatment.
“News that Israel will allow countries to airdrop aid into Gaza has come far too late – but we will do everything we can to get aid in via this route,” the prime minister wrote in The Mirror.
He said that the UK was “already working urgently with the Jordanian authorities to get British aid onto planes and into Gaza”.
Writing on X on Friday, Sir Keir said his government would “pull every lever” to deliver food and life-saving support to Palestinians, adding: “This humanitarian catastrophe must end.”
On Saturday, Downing Street said the prime minister had again spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, following their phone call on Friday night.
The three leaders urged Israel to lift all restrictions on aid and agreed that “robust plans” were required to turn an “urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace”, No 10 said.
The three leaders urged Israel to lift all restrictions on aid and agreed that “robust plans” were required to turn an “urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace”, No 10 said.
The statement also confirmed the UK would be working with Jordan to evacuate children requiring medical assistance.
It comes as Sir Keir faces growing pressure both home and abroad to recognise a Palestinian state.
On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron committed to recognising Palestinian statehood within months.
Then, 220 MPs from nine political parties – more than half of them Labour – signed a joint letter which said such a move would send a “powerful” message and a vital step toward a two-state solution.
Sir Keir has said that recognising Palestine would have to be part of a “wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution”.
