LONDON - The British government is still dodging the question of restoring funding to UNRWA, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, and refusing to stop arms sale to Israel.

A year ago, the United Kingdom put itself at the heart of help for Ukraine’s recovery from war by hosting an international conference at which nations gave $2 billion and 18 development finance institutions collaborated to secure investments.

Twelve months on, the destruction of Gaza, Khan Younis, and — probably soon — Rafah echo the plight of Kyiv and Mariupol, so Parliament’s International Development Committee urged the U.K. government to repeat that conference’s success, writes Devex U.K. Correspondent Rob Merrick.

“The recovery in Gaza will be arguably longer and harder, given the economic basis from which it was starting,” its report warned, calling for “Palestinian businesses who have been involved in rebuilding Gaza previously” to join donors at a fresh conference.

The government’s response has now arrived, and it agrees “the international community must consider recovery and reconstruction now,” even as Israel prepares to step up its assault in the south of Gaza.

But it adds: “We are not at this stage ready to commit to the UK hosting an international conference” — without saying why not. Sarah Champion, the committee’s chair, criticized “warm words” without action, also noting the government is still dodging the question of restoring funding to UNRWA, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees.

Last year, the bill for the Ukraine reconstruction was put at $441 billion. At the start of May, the United Nations said the cost of rebuilding Gaza could hit $50 billion and is “increasing exponentially by every day of fighting.”