Hunger levels in Gaza have been on the rise, with 1.1 million people facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
A Qatari Armed Forces aid aircraft intended for Palestinians in Gaza touched down in the Egyptian city of El Arish on Wednesday, carrying 11 tonnes of aid, including food supplies from the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS).
Wednesday’s delivery marks the 94th in a series of Qatari planes dispatched to address the alarming situation for the Palestinian people amid the ongoing Israeli genocide in the besieged Strip.
Qatar has been at the forefront of the humanitarian efforts in Gaza since Israel renewed its indiscriminate onslaught on the enclave on October 7, 2023.
The QRCS, alone, carried out more than 1,800 surgeries in Gaza throughout the ongoing Israeli war on the Strip, providing a helping hand to the collapsed local health sector.
The surgeries included stopping the bleeding, lung repair, and diaphragm wall repair. This is in addition to direct operations on the heart, oesophagus and blood vessels. The QRCS team are also providing victims with psychological treatment services.
The Qatari entity’s efforts come under the Gulf state’s wider mission to treat the wounded in Gaza and alleviate their suffering.
Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani announced an initiative on December 3, 2023, to sponsor 3,000 orphans and treat 1,500 injured Palestinians from the Strip.
Wednesday’s humanitarian efforts also come as the Turkiye-Qatar Gaza Goodness Ship set off from the Turkish Mersin International Port to El-Arish, carrying 1,908 tonnes of vital humanitarian aid for the besieged enclave.
The ship is carrying 1,358 tonnes of aid provided by the Qatar Fund for Development and 550 tonnes donated by Turkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).
Gaza has been under a complete Israeli blockade since the beginning of the genocidal war on October 7, 2023. Israel has since killed more than 34,800 people while displacing more than 85 percent of the population.
At least 31 children have also died as a result of severe malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza due to the absence of basic resources and aid, according to the United Nations’ flash update on Wednesday.
Israel’s invasion of the land crossing on Tuesday has completely blocked the entry of aid and stopped thousands awaiting urgent evacuation from leaving Gaza.
Hunger levels have been on the rise, with 1.1 million people facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
Israel’s attacks on hospitals and prevention of the entry of basic resources also forced more than half of Gaza’s health facilities to go out of service. Currently, there are 12 partially functioning hospitals in Gaza out of an initial 36, according to the UN.
The hospitals that have gone out of service include the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, the biggest health facility in Gaza and one of the most important ones in the entirety of Palestine.
