UK pledges £6m aid for Gazans amid continuing efforts to quell tensions

The UK will pledge £6 million towards aid in Gaza, as a Foreign Office minister calls for peace in the Middle East during a visit to Jordan .

Anneliese Dodds , the international development minister, has pledged a package of food, water, health, education and wellbeing support for Gazans.

She is visiting Jordan to meet ministers and discuss how the UK and its ally can work together on brokering a peace in the Israel-Hamas conflict, as well as quelling other regional tensions.

Israel has been exchanging rocket fire along its northern border with Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, sparking fears the conflict could escalate.

Now is the time for calm, if we are to achieve lasting peace and stability in the Middle East. It is in no-one’s interests for tensions to escalate and spread across the wider region

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said the UK stands “ready and prepared” should tensions heighten, after the Government warned British nationals in Lebanon to leave.

As she embarked on her visit, Foreign Office minister Ms Dodds said: “Now is the time for calm, if we are to achieve lasting peace and stability in the Middle East. It is in no-one’s interests for tensions to escalate and spread across the wider region.”

Among the projects the UK funding will support is the vaccination and immunisation of more than 20,000 children, recreational activities for more than 8,000 school-aged children to boost their wellbeing and help for more than 55,000 people in Gaza to access clean water and sanitation.

The minister added: “We are seeing the humanitarian impact of conflict on Gazans. This new UK support will provide a lifeline for vulnerable families, giving them access to basic food and water during a desperate time.”