The UK, in coordination with partners such as Jordan, will
conduct airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza and evacuate critically ill
children for medical care, as confirmed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer. This
move follows mounting international pressure amid severe starvation and a
collapsing healthcare system in the region.
UK Announces Major Humanitarian Intervention for Gaza
In a significant escalation of its response to the
humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the United Kingdom has confirmed it will proceed
with plans to airdrop aid into the besieged enclave and help evacuate children
needing urgent medical attention. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made the
announcement following emergency meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron
and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as reported by Mahatir Pasha of ITV News,
and echoed across a range of major outlets on 26 July 2025.
What Has the UK Government Announced?
As reported by Deutsche Welle, British Prime Minister Keir
Starmer has stated that the UK, in coordination with Jordan and other partners,
is devising strategies to airdrop humanitarian supplies into Gaza. Starmer’s
office confirmed the involvement in a three-way call with European leaders,
where consensus was reached on the “appalling” state of Gaza and the urgent
need for robust peace-building strategies.
Downing Street further clarified that the new initiative includes not only urgent food and medical aid drops but also plans for the evacuation of children for medical treatment that is inaccessible within Gaza’s shattered health infrastructure.
“The prime minister set out how the UK will also be taking forward plans to work with partners such as Jordan to air drop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance,”
reads the
official government summary of the E3 leaders’ call.
Why is This Move Considered Urgent?
The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate,
with the United Nations and aid agencies warning of widescale starvation and a
collapse in medical services. According to the BBC, nearly a third of Gaza’s
population faces extreme food insecurity, with 90,000 women and children in immediate
need of medical help. The World Food Programme has described malnutrition
as “on the rise” and children dying daily from preventable or treatable
conditions.
The region’s hospitals are overwhelmed, infrastructure is extensively damaged, and supplies severely limited. As per David Lammy, the UK’s Foreign Secretary,
“almost 1,000 civilians have been killed since May seeking aid,”
reiterating the depth of the crisis and the indispensable nature
of aid and medical evacuations.
How Will the Air Drops Work?
According to reporting by the BBC and Politico, the UK’s previous experience with airdrops, including missions conducted with the Royal Air Force and the Jordanian Air Force earlier in the conflict, demonstrated the feasibility of such operations. Starmer, contributing an opinion piece to the Mirror, acknowledged that
“news that Israel will allow countries to airdrop aid into Gaza has come far too late — but we will do everything we can to get aid in via this route.”
However, according to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe
Lazzarini, as cited by ITV News, while such airdrops are “a distraction” from
the need for regular and unrestricted humanitarian corridors, they “cannot
reverse the deepening starvation” in the enclave. Aid groups and the
United Nations have repeatedly cautioned that air drops are no substitute for
sustained, large-scale land deliveries, which remain restricted by Israel.
Who Is Eligible for Medical Evacuation and How Is It Funded?
Through Project Pure Hope—a humanitarian partnership led by
UK doctors, barristers such as Raza Halim, and international organisations—two
children from Gaza, aged five and twelve, have already arrived in the UK for
urgent, privately funded specialist treatment after extensive cross-border
coordination. The children were transferred via Egypt, accompanied by
their mothers, and are now receiving care in London.
According to Garden Court Chambers, which was involved in the legal and logistical process, all expenses, including evacuation, treatment, and accommodation, are being covered by private charitable donations,
“at no cost to the NHS or UK taxpayers.”
The project underscores the
critical shortage of advanced medical services available in Gaza or the
surrounding region.
Selection for evacuation involves a rigorous clinical
process to prioritise those with life-threatening needs. More broadly,
thousands of children in Gaza are reported to have been left with long-term or
fatal injuries as the local health service collapses.
Why Has the UK’s Role Drawn Legal and Political Scrutiny?
Despite the new measures, the UK government continues to
face legal challenges over its broader approach to medical evacuations for
Gazan children. According to Leigh Day Solicitors and reporting in the Morning
Star, children “Y, S, and S”, represented by Carolin Ott, Tessa Gregory, Raza
Husain KC, and Eleanor Mitchell, are among those seeking judicial intervention
to secure medical evacuations, highlighting the limits of the government’s
present mechanisms and the urgency for expanded efforts.
Kate Takes, a solicitor for Children Not Numbers, stated that
“without treatment they will not survive, they need to be evacuated from Gaza urgently.”
Advocates argue that while the UK has made strides in providing
humanitarian support, it lags behind countries such as France, Spain, Italy,
and Germany, which have accepted larger numbers of Gazan children for treatment
at government expense.
How Much Aid Is the UK Providing and What Is Its Impact?
On 21 July 2025, the Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced
an additional £60 million humanitarian package to benefit tens of thousands in
Gaza—a portion of the £101 million total committed for this financial year. This
funding supports UK-Med field hospitals, water provision for up to 600,000
Gazans monthly, and vital supplies delivered through the United Nations Relief
and Works Agency (UNRWA).
David Wightwick, CEO of UK-Med, noted:
“I have never seen a crisis of this scale and severity, and it has only deteriorated in recent months... UK government funding is vital in supporting UK-Med to deliver over 500,000 patient consultations in Gaza during this conflict,”
demonstrating both
scale and urgency of the effort.
What Have International Partners and the UK Parliament Said?
A recent report by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee has called on the UK government to further support a
“medical evacuation of critically injured children to the UK,”
reflecting a cross-party consensus in Westminster that echoes efforts in other European countries. Partners such as France and Germany have also urged Israel to
“immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid”
to Gaza, emphasising that only sustained,
unimpeded humanitarian access will avert further disaster.
What Is the Next Step for the UK and Allies?
Leaders have committed to “work closely on plans” aimed at building a long-term solution and involving regional partners once frameworks are in place, as outlined by Downing Street after the Prime Minister’s call with Macron and Merz. The Foreign Secretary’s office insists the UK will
“continue to push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, a surge in aid and a path towards long-term peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.”
The UK’s plans to airdrop humanitarian aid into Gaza and to
evacuate children for urgent medical treatment have emerged as critical steps
in a region where food insecurity and medical need are at catastrophic levels.
While these measures mark meaningful intervention, aid agencies, legal
advocates, and UN officials warn that far more sustained and systemic action is
needed to avert a larger humanitarian tragedy.
As Prime Minister Starmer stressed,
“the images of starvation and desperation in Gaza are utterly horrifying,”
and the world will
be watching to see if these interventions can deliver genuine relief for Gaza’s
most vulnerable.