RIYADH: The donations of the Saudi people as part of the campaign launched by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to help victims of Israeli attacks in Gaza exceeded SR171 million yesterday.
Donations have also included food items, medicines, medical accessories, clothes, blankets and tent materials besides jewels, the Saudi Press Agency reported yesterday.
The Saudi Organization for the Relief of Palestinians said young and old rich and poor were all coming forward with donations to the campaign expressing their solidarity with the Gazan people.
“The 11th cargo plane carrying 12 tons of medical supplies sent by the Saudi government to Gaza arrived at the El-Arish airport in Egypt today,” Dr. Khaled Al-Habshi, the chief of the Saudi medical relief team, said in a press statement. Al-Habshi added that the consignment would be shipped to Gaza across the Rafah checkpoint at the earliest.
With this latest shipment the Saudi medical aid to the Gazans reach 132 tons, he said.
Thousands of Sudanese protest offensive
KHARTOUM: Thousands of Sudanese marched through Khartoum yesterday to vent their anger at the Israeli offensive in Gaza, carrying banners and shouting slogans in support of their “Palestinian brothers.”
Some 4,000 demonstrators gathered in Khartoum’s central Martyrs’ Square, protesting against the ongoing fighting in Gaza. “Gaza, the shame of the world,” read one banner in English, as demonstrators joined in with protest calls to the beat of a drum. “Down, Down USA,” one group of schoolgirls chanted.
Khartoum has seen several small-scale demonstrations outside embassies and United Nations offices over the past week, but yesterday’s rally is the biggest so far. However, it fell far short of state media predictions that a million protesters would turn out. The United States Embassy was closed on Wednesday after some 50 student protesters threw rocks at the building on Wednesday evening, according to a statement on its website.
Belgium plans to evacuate wounded kids
BRUSSELS: Belgium plans to send aircraft to the Middle East this weekend to help evacuate children from Gaza injured in Israel’s war on Hamas, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
A spokesman said that Belgium was acting alone as it “cannot wait any longer” for its European Union partners to coordinate and take part in the mission. On Friday, A C130 military transport plane will fly to the Egyptian town of El-Arish, some 60 kilometers from the Gaza border, with around a dozen personnel aboard, including medical and consular workers and translators. They will prepare with local authorities the first evacuation of children.
India responds to UNRWA call
RIYADH: The government of India, which has condemned the ongoing invasion into Gaza by Israeli ground and other forces, has decided to extend an assistance of $1 million for the sufferers of Gaza, in response to the flash appeal made by United Nations Refugees Welfare Agency (UNRWA). “The money extended to UNRWA will be for use by the agency to provide shelters, cash assistance, essential household items, etc., to affected families in Gaza,” an Embassy of India press release said yesterday. India has urged an immediate end to the military action by all concerned and called for the suffering of civilians in the region to end, the press release said quoting the official spokesperson in New Delhi. “India supports all efforts aimed at securing an immediate cease-fire,” the statement said, adding that the government has also called for an immediate end to the violence witnessed in Gaza and its environs, so that further casualties among civilians are averted.
