Britain pledges over $5m in aid to Gaza

Britain pledged 4 million pounds ($5.4 million) in humanitarian aid to Gaza, the government said on Wednesday, as its Minister for Development Jenny Chapman visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

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"The Israeli government's failure to allow full humanitarian access to aid workers is abhorrent. Far too few trucks are crossing into Gaza," Chapman said.

"The UK is clear - Israel will not achieve security through prolonging the suffering of the Palestinian people."

Britain on Tuesday paused free trade talks with Israel over its new offensive in Gaza, with foreign minister David Lammy calling for an end to the blockade of aid.

The British Red Cross will receive the new aid package and deliver it through the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Britain said.

On the other hand, no aid has reached people in Gaza, a UN aid official said on Wednesday, two days after the Israeli government said it had lifted an 11-week-old blockade that has brought the Palestinian enclave to the brink of famine.

The Israeli military said five aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday and 93 on Tuesday but supplies have not made it to Gaza’s soup kitchens, bakeries, markets and hospitals, according to aid officials and local bakeries that were standing by to receive supplies of flour.