UK charities urge Rishi Sunak to call for ceasefire in Gaza at food security conference

Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza

UK charities have urged British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to put substance to his claim of combating world hunger by calling for a ceasefire and an end to the siege in Gaza.

The directors of twelve British charities, including Oxfam GB, War Child and Action on Hunger wrote to Mr Sunak in an open letter ahead of the Global Food Security Summit in London next week.

“More than two million people in Gaza are going hungry, including one million children. With barely a tenth of necessary food supplies able to enter since the conflict began, the UN is now warning of widespread hunger and even starvation,” the letter said.

The UK is co-hosting this year’s summit with the UAE and Somalia, which it hopes will mark a “reset moment” on the global food security crisis. Mr Sunak is expected to open the summit, where governments, international organisations, scientists, NGOs and the private sector will meet in London on 20 November.

The summit is also part of the UK’s efforts to support communities affected by Russia’s blockade and attacks on Ukrainian grain. At the G20 summit in September, Mr Sunak condemned the “terrible global consequences of Putin’s stranglehold over the most fundamental resources”.

But charity leaders fear the UK's stance will ring hollow as two million people under Israel’s siege in Gaza are running out of food, water, fuel and medical aid to sustain them. The UN's World Food Programme warned on Thursday that civilians in the Gaza Strip are facing starvation because food and water have become “practically non-existent”.

Mr Sunak has defended Israel’s war on Gaza but called for “humanitarian pauses” to allow aid to enter.

The humanitarian crisis had put the UK’s “reputation” on the line. “Civilians are suffering as a result, but so too is the UK’s reputation as custodian of UN Security Council Resolution 2417, which forbids the use of starvation as a weapon of war,” the letter said.

It added that a ceasefire agreed by Israel was necessary for supplies to enter Gaza. “The world has everything it needs to start saving lives in Gaza today, but unless Israel agrees to an immediate ceasefire and to allow food, fuel and other aid to enter, we will all be relegated to powerless bystanders, forced to watch from the sidelines as scores of civilians die from starvation at the hands of a UK ally.”

The letter urged Mr Sunak to condemn Israel’s siege. “We urge you to use your opening remarks on Monday to call for an immediate ceasefire, condemn Israel’s ongoing siege and insist that food, fuel, water and other aid vital for survival is allowed into Gaza with immediate effect,” the letter said.

The letter comes after British MPs voted against a motion for a ceasefire on Wednesday, causing rifts among the Labour party.

British MPs feared the UK had “lost sight of humanity” and “proportionality” in Gaza after hearing from aid agencies on Tuesday.

Melanie Ward, chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians, and a signatory to the letter, warned MPs of “massive outbreaks of infection and mass starvation”. Other witnesses at the hearing also feared the crisis in Gaza would have implications for the UK's condemnation of Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine.

The letter’s signatories were:

Jean-Michel Grand, executive director of Action Against Hunger UK

Chris Doyle, director of Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu)

Christine Allen, director of CAFOD

Patrick Watt, chief executive of Christian Aid

George Graham, Chief Executive of Humanity & Inclusion

Waseem Ahmad, chief executive of Islamic Relief

Tareq Shrourou, director of Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights

Melanie Ward, chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)

Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, chief executive of Oxfam GB

Rose Caldwell, chief executive of Plan International UK

Rob Williams, chief executive of War Child UK

Caroline Qutteneh, director of the Welfare Association

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

The Internet
Hive Mind
four stars

Hurricanes 31-31 Lions

Wellington Hurricanes:
Tries: Gibbins, Laumape, Goosen, Fifita tries, Barrett
Conversions: Barrett (4)
Penalties: Barrett

British & Irish Lions:
Tries: Seymour (2), North
Conversions: Biggar (2)
Penalties: Biggar (4)

Company Profile

Name: JustClean

Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries

Launch year: 2016

Number of employees: 130

Sector: online laundry service

Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding

Company profile

Company: Verity

Date started: May 2021

Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif

Based: Dubai

Sector: FinTech

Size: four team members

Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000

Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors

The biog

Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi

Age: 23

How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them

Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need

Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman

Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs

Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing

Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?

George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.

Hunting park to luxury living

Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds

Mia Man’s tips for fermentation

- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut

- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.

- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.

- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.