Jordan Times
Monday, January 5, 2009
'Jordan aid convoy to enter Gaza despite ground offensive’
By Hani Hazaimeh
AMMAN - Ten trucks laden with relief aid arrived yesterday in the Palestinian
lands and are expected to enter Gaza today despite the Israeli ground offensive
under way in the war-stricken enclave.
An official at the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) said Sunday that
Jordan has made all necessary contacts and has the green light to make the
delivery.
The JHCO official said that the blood units prepared to go to Gaza are not
included in the cargo because they need a special environment to preserve them,
“which we cannot guarantee because the convoy had to wait overnight before entry
to Gaza”.
Meanwhile, the official announced that the JHCO, which handles all the local and
non-Jordanian aid to the Gaza Strip, received a total of 20 tonnes of assistance
presented by the Lebanese government to the Palestinian people in Gaza who had
been under Israeli attacks since last Saturday.
The aid cargo was accompanied by a Lebanese official delegation including
Lebanese ministers of health, Mohammad Khalifeh, and social affairs, Mario Aoun,
along with state minister, Khaled Qabbani, the head of the Lebanese-Palestinian
Dialogue Committee, Khalil Makkawi, and media representatives.
Health Minister Salah Mawajdeh said the situation in Gaza is very tragic and
requires joint Arab efforts to provide medical assistance to the distressed
people in Gaza, adding that Jordan has put its medical institutions on alert to
receive and treat as many as possible of Palestinians wounded in the Israeli
attacks.
Khalifeh said his country has been through similar humanitarian situations,
citing the Israeli aggression in Lebanon in 2006. He added that the Lebanese
government will provide what it can of the necessary medical supplies to
hospitals in Gaza.
The assistance shipment, which arrived on board an aeroplane from Beirut,
included blankets, medical and food supplies. It will be sent to the Palestinian
territories to be distributed to Gazans through UNRWA, the JHCO official said.
According to the JHCO, a total of 2,448 humanitarian aid convoys had been
dispatched to various parts of the world since the organisation was founded in
1987, with 247 convoys worth $81.4 million sent to the Palestinian territories
since the first Intifada in 1987.
Meanwhile, cash donations collected in the Kingdom’s mosques amounted to around
JD1.04 million by Saturday night, according to Minister of Awqaf and Islamic
Affairs Abdul Fattah Salah, who added that the donations will be handed over to
the JHCO Monday to buy items urgently needed by Gazans.