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Starmer Pledges £20M for Gaza Aid, Vows UK Leadership in Reconstruction
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will announce a £20 million ($26.7 million) humanitarian aid package for Gaza at a peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Monday, his office said Sunday.
The funding, part of a broader UK aid commitment, will go toward restoring essential water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure in Gaza, following two years of devastating conflict. The summit, chaired by US President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, comes just days after a ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Hamas.
“Today is the first, crucial phase of ending this war, and now we must deliver the second phase, in full,” Starmer is expected to say, according to a Downing Street press release.
The UK also announced it will host a three-day international conference focused on Gaza’s long-term recovery and reconstruction. While a date is yet to be confirmed, the conference aims to gather representatives from Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, the private sector, and international financiers.
“Gaza has been completely devastated,” said Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. “The ceasefire gives us the opportunity not just to urgently scale up humanitarian efforts but also to look to the future of Gaza’s recovery.”
Cooper added that the UK will play a “crucial part” by convening global actors and leveraging investment and expertise from the City of London to support Gaza’s rebuilding process.
