Staring out across the Jordanian landscape towards Palestine, Yvette Cooper felt a deep sense of frustration. Warehouses brimming with essential aid are located just under 40 miles from the West Bank border, with Gaza lying beyond. However, despite the agreed ceasefire, Israeli restrictions have prevented the transportation of thousands of tons of crucial supplies such as food, tents, and equipment to assist the distressed population in Gaza.
Situated west of Amman, Jordan’s capital, is the King Hussein/Allenby Bridge, a significant border crossing into the West Bank, the larger of the two Palestinian territories. This crossing has been closed to aid trucks since September following the deaths of two Israeli soldiers near the area.
Accompanied by the Foreign Secretary, I embarked on a four-day journey through the Middle East during a critical period for the peace process following two years of intense conflict. Traveling with the top British diplomat means being part of a large delegation comprising officials, security personnel, and advisors. Navigating through traffic at high speeds in the Foreign Secretary’s convoy was both exhilarating and nerve-wracking.
The journey commenced in Bahrain, an island nation in the Persian Gulf, where Ms. Cooper participated in a security summit and engaged in discussions with key figures from the Middle East. Subsequently, she visited Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, another influential player in the region, for further crucial meetings, all while keeping the dire situation in Gaza at the forefront of discussions.
The focus was on transforming a fragile ceasefire into a sustainable peace and addressing the challenges hindering the delivery of aid to the war-torn Gaza enclave. During a visit to Amman, Jordan’s capital bordering the West Bank under Israeli surveillance, Ms. Cooper expressed dismay upon witnessing 4,000 metric tons of food stored in a World Food Programme warehouse south of Amman for up to nine months. Meanwhile, the people in Gaza are facing severe food shortages.
Reflecting on the trip, Ms. Cooper emphasized the urgency and potential for rapid action to alleviate the situation by lifting restrictions and collaborating to facilitate aid delivery efficiently. She highlighted the need to reopen the Jordanian aid route into Gaza promptly to provide support to families in desperate need.
Additionally, Ms. Cooper disclosed her efforts to assist Jordan in setting up a maternity field hospital in Gaza, ready for deployment pending Israeli approval. The current state of healthcare in Gaza, where women are giving birth outside hospitals due to the healthcare system’s collapse, underscores the critical need for immediate intervention.
The Foreign Secretary is intensifying pressure on Israel to honor the peace plan’s commitments brokered by Donald Trump, particularly in opening border crossings to allow aid passage. While significant challenges remain on the path to lasting peace, immediate actions such as clearing warehouses, establishing the maternity hospital, and supplying educational materials to children could be swiftly implemented.
Ms. Cooper’s visit underscored the urgency for immediate actions alongside long-term reconstruction efforts to address the crisis effectively. The potential for quick interventions, such as deploying the maternity field hospital and distributing aid from warehouses to Gaza, highlights the critical need for swift collaboration to alleviate the suffering in Gaza.
Lizzy Buchan, the Mirror’s Political Editor, has been reporting from Westminster since 2017, with a keen interest in various topics such as work, trade unions, child poverty, defense, and foreign policy. For any news tips, please contact her via email.
