Saudi aid convoy to Gaza strip this week

The Saudi Campaign of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for the Relief of the Palestinian People of Gaza is sending 175 tons of rice to Gaza this week, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The shipment is the third installment of a major donation of food dispatched under the direction of Saudi Prince Nayef, the supervisor of the Saudi committee for the support of the Palestinian people, said the statement. It added that the shipmnt is being arranged jointly by the Jordanian Royal Hashemite Organization (JHCO) and UNRWA. A send-off ceremony was held at the warehouses of the JHCO to mark the departure of the food convoy, attended by Executive Director of the Saudi Committee, Mubarak Al Bakr; Representative of the Saudi Embassy in Amman, Abdel-Rahman bin Saleh Al-Subyani; Secretary General of the JHCO, Ahmad Mohammad Al-Imyan, and the Representative of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Peter Ford. Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Filippo Grandi, welcomed the donation and said, “This donation could not come at a better time. Even after this donation, the Agency urgently needs US$10 million to ensure sufficient food to maintain UNRWA services into the New Year, which is why we recently launched a special appeal for Gaza.” “Once more, the Agency is profoundly grateful to HRH King Abdullah, HRH Prince Nayef and the government and people of Saudi Arabia for their constant concern to help the population of Gaza, which, despite its happiness over the recent release of prisoners, remains subject to a severe blockade causing acute impoverishment.” The agreement, providing for the three installments of food, was signed in June 2011. Since the attack on Gaza between December 2008 and January 2009, the Campaign of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for the Relief of the Palestinian People of Gaza has made donations to UNRWA worth a total of US$10.3 million.