Concerns arise over potential UK troop deployment for Gaza aid delivery

WORLD  30 April 2024 - 10:32

The UK government has been urged not to deploy troops on the ground in Gaza to deliver aid, with one MP calling the idea "completely insane".

The UK is understood to be considering tasking troops with driving trucks via an American-built floating pier onto a beach in Gaza, BBC reports.

Ex-Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said such a move would be "unwise" and urged the government to rule it out.

Defence Minister Leo Docherty said he would not comment on speculation.

The US military is building a large floating causeway off the coast of Gaza to help deliver much-needed humanitarian aid to the area.

In a briefing to journalists, a senior US military official said American troops would not take the aid ashore and that this role would be carried out by a "significant partner".

He confirmed the job would be carried out by another nation rather than a private military company.

The official said a "third party" would be driving trucks down the pier but refused to name who that would be.

The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment on suggestions the third party could be UK forces.

One UK source told the BBC nothing had been decided but there was a debate going on about "do we put wet boots on the beach, do we drive trucks onto the pier?"

On Monday, Labour's shadow defence secretary John Healey used an urgent question in Parliament to ask the minister if he could confirm "weekend reports that UK troops could be deployed to deliver aid on the ground in Gaza".

"How will the defence secretary report to this house and ensure that Parliament has a say on any such deployment?"

Mr Docherty said the government was "not going to comment on the speculation that there might be a ground role for UK forces".

Tory MP Sir Julian Lewis, chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee, said it would be a "completely insane idea" and argued a better option would be for "moderate Arab neighbouring states" to distribute the aid.

Defence Committee Chair Sir Jeremy Quin said he understood the minister could not comment but warned that "some of the best laid, best-intentioned of plans can run into problems".

He sought assurances that the UK would only contemplate "UK boots on the pier" if "appropriate" protection was in place.

The Liberal Democrat's defence spokesperson Richard Foord said that if UK troops were deployed in Gaza, MPs should first be given a debate and vote on the subject.

Former Labour leader - now an independent MP - Jeremy Corbyn asked the government to assure MPs the government will "not be deploying British troops anywhere on the ground in Gaza or the West Bank or any other part of the region".

US defence officials say the pier into Gaza would be "several hundred meters long" and could ultimately enable up to 150 trucks of aid, or two million meals, to be delivered per day.

More than 1,000 US troops are expected to be involved in building the infrastructure, expected to be completed by early May.

During construction, the American soldiers and sailors will live and sleep aboard the British naval vessel, the RFA Cardigan Bay.

The UN has warned famine is "almost inevitable" in Gaza without urgent action.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 34,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began on 7 October.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched the offensive after about 1,200 Israelis and foreigners - mostly civilians - were killed and 253 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Caliber.Az