Relief convoy leaves for Gaza

Relief convoy leaves for Gaza Sultan Altamimi | Arab News

Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed honors participants in the Gaza relief effort at a function held at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday as OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, center, looks on. (AN photo)   JEDDAH: The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) ensures that aid it sends to Gaza reaches people who are in need of it and this is the reason why many charities and international organizations trust the OIC in handling relief supplies, OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said here yesterday. Ihsanoglu was speaking at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) on the occasion of sending a third convoy of relief supplies to the conflict-stricken region. In his speech, Ihsanoglu also urged Western nations to consider giving aid to Gaza through his pan-Islamic organization. Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed was present at the function. In all, 43 truckloads of humanitarian aid set off for Gaza. The trucks were loaded with clothes, baby food, medical supplies, an ambulance, three forklifts and foodstuffs, including wheat flour, rice, tea, cooking oil and canned meat. According to Ihsanoglu, the convoy weighed 931 tons and amounted to goods worth SR11 million. The total aid sent to Gaza has reached SR18 million. Other projects, to be announced in June, could reach over $1 billion in total. "The latest Israeli attack on Gaza shook the human conscience, which led to a united global effort to stand against this unjustified monstrosity that left a true humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip," he said. "I stood there in Gaza and heard and witnessed people's stories of suffering due to these attacks," Ihsanoglu said. Ambassador Atta Al-Mannan Bakheet, OIC's assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said: "This latest convoy is the third to be dispatched by the OIC to Gaza, and is the largest one so far with more than 40 truckloads of humanitarian supplies." Over 250 representatives from OIC member states, together with eminent personalities and delegates from humanitarian organizations, were involved in preparing the aid convoy. The convoy will first head for El-Arish, Egypt, where the organization's logistical coordination unit is based, and then on to Gaza.