British MPs call for Gaza access

British lawmakers have called on their government to pressure Israel for their access to the Gaza Strip via Beit Hanoun (Erez) border crossing.

The last time a British MP delegation was granted access to Gaza by Israel was back in 2009.

The British MPs called for allowing their access to Gaza to enable an informed discussion to take place in the UK on Gaza and to allow UK parliamentarians to review UK funded projects there.

"The UK is a significant donor to the planned reconstruction of Gaza and their parliamentarians must see the situation for themselves in respect to the needs of the population and how British funds are being spent," according to the lawmakers' statements.

"As major donors to the humanitarian effort in Gaza and as key trade partners to Israel, MPs and MEPs for the European states have an obligation to their electorates, and the UK taxpayer more generally, to push for accountability and oversight of aid projects. This requires access to Gaza."

For its part, the Palestinian foreign ministry said that contacts are underway between British and European civil society organizations and their Palestinian counterparts in this regard.

British MPs had already called on the government to do everything in its power to pressure the Israeli side to allow the entry of British aid workers and lawmakers to Gaza to assess the humanitarian situation there and work on meeting the needs of the impoverished population.

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The fact that Israel will not allow a delegation of from Britain into Gaza for this purpose says everything.