Saudi Arabia provides $53m for Gaza medical care

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has issued a directive to provide SR200 million ($53.3 million) in humanitarian aid for the victims of the Israeli offensive against Gaza which has killed more than 170 people so far.

The funds will pay for medicine and medical equipment to treat “victims of the brutal Israeli aggression and bombing of the Gaza Strip,” Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf said early Monday.

The aid will be channeled through the Palestinian Red Crescent, al-Assaf said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the First Vice President of Al-Quds Supreme Islamic Commission, and Former Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs Dr. Yusuf Juma’ Salamah praised the Kingdom for supporting the Palestinian people and their just cause.

Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Iyad Madani appealed to member states and all humanitarian organizations both within and outside the Islamic World as well as to international organizations to extend all forms of support and relief to the Palestinian people, particularly urgent medical relief to the Gaza Strip.

He stressed that the brutal aggression witnessed in Gaza had been preceded by an inhuman siege, a longstanding crime that must end immediately. He affirmed that he was following with deep concern the ongoing aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

This article was first published in the Saudi Gazette on July 15, 2014.