Britain is committing £88mn to humanitarian relief and early recovery in Gaza as the British Army cuts major training exercises to save £30mn, intensifying scrutiny over the Government’s competing demands for defence spending and overseas aid.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced the new package at the United Nations General Assembly, with funding covering healthcare, clean water, sanitation, waste management and protection services in Gaza and the West Bank.
The money is expected to fund medical consultations for up to 900,000 people, rehabilitation and prosthetic treatment for 1,000 children with blast injuries, waste management for up to 900,000 people and emergency water supplies for 150,000.
It will also provide mental health and psychosocial support for up to 21,000 Palestinians.
Miliband said: “It is vital that civilians in Gaza have unhindered access to aid.
“The UK is pledging a major new package of aid to provide much needed healthcare support to those desperately in need.
“We urge the Government of Israel to listen to our call to action and take steps to end its unacceptable restrictions on Gaza.”
The announcement comes against a backdrop of mounting pressure on the UK’s military budget.
The Army has suspended a range of major exercises because of a shortage of in-year funding, including some live-fire and armoured training. Exercises involving more than 90 personnel have been halted unless units are preparing for imminent deployment or other priority commitments, with the measures expected to save about £30mn. Reservists are also expected to lose training days.
The cuts have drawn criticism from senior military figures. Lieutenant General Benoît Desmeulles, commander of France’s 1st Army Corps, said the decision was a “very, very bad idea”.
“I’m sad for my English friends,” he told The Telegraph. “We had the same a few years ago. It’s not a good thing. No training equals no ‘fight-tonight’ capacity.
“If we are not good at our job and we don’t have the equipment, that’s a recipe for disaster. So it’s a very bad thing.”
The comments highlight the tension facing governments across Europe as they seek to increase military readiness while managing competing demands on public finances.
The Army’s training restrictions have already prompted warnings that reduced exercise time could affect readiness, although troops preparing for overseas deployments are understood to remain protected from the wider suspension.
Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s Treasury spokesman, criticised the Gaza package and argued that the funding should instead be spent domestically.
“Scrap that,” he said. “Use the money to build a new hospital wing in Grimsby, not Gaza.”
The Government says the Gaza funding forms part of its wider humanitarian and early-recovery programme. It has committed more than £88mn in humanitarian and early-recovery support for Palestinians during the current financial year, with a bilateral Official Development Assistance allocation for Palestine of £127mn in 2026/27.
Meanwhile, the Army continues to face pressure to deliver greater military readiness while finding savings within existing budgets, setting up a politically sensitive debate over how limited public funds should be allocated between defence, domestic services and overseas humanitarian commitments.
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