Ammon News - More than 2,000 tonnes of British food aid has crossed into Gaza via Jordan and is being distributed by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to families in need, Britain's foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Aid agencies have reported widespread shortages of food, medicines and clean water in Gaza, with a U.N.-backed report projecting famine and about half the population across the whole of the Gaza Strip facing "catastrophic hunger".

"We need sustained humanitarian access by road to get more aid in," British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in a statement.
"We continue to push Israel to allow more crossings to open and for longer, and for healthcare, water and sanitation to be restored.”

Britain's Foreign Office said its food parcels would be distributed by the WFP and feed over 275,000 people in Gaza.

In addition to the 2,000 tonnes of food aid delivered, it said 150 tonnes of UK-funded aid assistance, including tents and blankets, sent on March 13 would be distributed by UNICEF.

The British Embassy in Amman announced, on Tuesday, the arrival of a fully equipped field hospital provided to the British charity UK-Med, with British funding, to the Gaza Strip.

The Embassy indicated that this hospital can treat more than 100 patients per day, and will be opened this week.

The hospital includes a pharmacy, an area for diagnosing cases, a unit for treating major injuries and resuscitation, and a tent for caring for pregnant mothers.

Reuters