Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) has sent 32.5 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza's people who took shelter in Gaza, Palestine, and El Arish, Egypt.
"Total aid being prepared amounts to 32.5 tons, which includes 2.5 tons of one thousand pieces of blankets, as well as 30 tons of food aid, including rice, wheat, salt, and cooking oil," Secretary General of the National Red Cross Dr. Abdurrahman Mohammad Fachir noted in a release received here on Thursday.
According to Abdurrahman, the aid comprised clothing for babies and children, as well as medicines has been distributed to El Arish clinics treating Gaza refugees in the border area.
He stated that the aid was sent aboard two trucks that travelled from Cairo to El Arish in some five hours.
He remarked that humanitarian aid for refugees, both in Palestine and Egypt, had been distributed in collaboration with the Egyptian Red Crescent, Indonesian Embassy for Egypt, as well as other Gaza-based aid institutions.
The secretary general remarked that the National Red Cross consistently encourages other aids or donations as well as ensures the aid is retrieved directly by refugees.
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Chief of the National Red Cross Headquarters, Arifin Muh Hadi, stated that the distribution of assistance is in accordance with the Egyptian Red Crescent's assessment. It was sent from El Arish on February 7 and distributed on Feb 8.
"The Egyptian Red Crescent sets El Arish as the central public kitchen currently, as electricity and gas are available. They have difficulty (in establishing a) large-scale public kitchen in Gaza," Arifin explained.
He noted that the food from El Arish will be distributed to Gaza that can be reached in an hour using the land route.
According to data from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), for the last 10 days, the heated battle around Khan Younis, southwest of Gaza, claimed lives and damaged civil infrastructures, including UNRWA's biggest refugee camp, the Khan Younis Training Center (KYTC).
The conflict forced Gaza's people to flee to the south to the densely populated Rafah.
The functions of medical facilities are compromised due to limited electricity and water. This leads to health disasters, such as cold temperatures in Gaza and the surrounding areas and skyrocketing rates of death and injuries due to bombings and violence.
The shelters to house the refugees are also lacking, and on top of that, the water and sanitation system made it worse for the people.
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Translator: Mecca Yumna Ning Prisie
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
