UAE-based charity sends Ramadan food parcels intended for Gaza

The UAE-based International Charity Organisation and the Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi Foundation have sent Ramadan food parcels intended for the Gaza Strip.

A media representative of the International Charity Organisation told ARN the aid was sent via plane from Ras al-Khaima to al-Arish in Egypt. However, he did not clarify what would happen to the aid given Israel's ongoing blockade of the Strip. 

Israel in early March blocked the entry of aid to the Gaza Strip after the first phase of the ceasefire ended, in an effort to pressure Hamas into ceasefire talks. Hamas had refused to extend the first phase of the ceasefire but was open to enforcing the second phase as initially planned. 

The aid comes under Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, which aims to alleviate the suffering of Gaza’s residents. 

According to the Emirates News Agency, the UAE continues to operate an air bridge to deliver food and medical aid to the enclave. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned that Gaza's humanitarian crisis is far from over. 

“Aid deliveries had substantially increased over the course of the ceasefire, but they remain a drop in the ocean compared to the immense needs on the ground,” ICRC said in a statement earlier this week.

Earlier this month, the UAE dispatched 410 tonnes of urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza and included essential food supplies, hygiene kits, and other humanitarian necessities aimed at alleviating the suffering of affected families in Gaza, particularly as winter intensifies and conditions worsen.