JEDDAH, 15 November 2004 — Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with the World Food Program to distribute 200,000 baskets of food among Palestinian families in Gaza and West Bank at a cost of SR23 million.
Dr. Saaed Al-Harithy, chairman of the Saudi Executive Committee for Palestinian Relief, said the project would be implemented immediately to meet the needs of poor Palestinian families as well as organizations serving Palestinian orphans and widows.
“We will make sure that the humanitarian assistance reaches deserving Palestinians,” Harithy said after signing the agreement here with Dr. Muhammad Dayyab, regional director of the United Nations agency.
He said the committee had always sought the best methods to extend humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. “We have already carried out 34 programs at a total cost of more than SR700 million,” he pointed out.
The committee, which collected more than $150 million in a telethon fund-raiser held in April 2002 in support of the Palestinian people, had built 600 houses in six Palestinian cities on instructions of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd.
Harithy refuted Western media allegations that the Saudi committee was supporting terrorist attacks against Israel. “It’s completely false. The humanitarian relief to Palestinian families is done through banks. The money is deposited directly to the beneficiary’s account, without any third party involvement.”
