Tribune News Network
Doha
With the successive aid aircraft deployed by Qatar for the relief of Gaza, the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has intensified its humanitarian efforts to mobilise support and deliver emergency aid to the Palestinian people, through its headquarters in Doha and representation office in Gaza. QRCS has two relief delegations in Al-Arish and Cairo, Egypt, to receive, prepare, and deploy aid shipments from Al-Arish International Airport to Rafah Border Crossing, where aid trucks would be entered into Gaza, in coordination with the Egyptian Red Crescent and Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
On Sunday 10 December 2023, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced that additional three relief aircraft were deployed to Al-Arish, carrying a total of 116 tonnes of humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, including food and medical items provided by Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), QRCS, and Qatar Charity (QC).
This sends the number of Qatari aid aircraft deployed until 10 December 2023 to 42, with a total of 1,362 tonnes of diverse aid, such as food and nonfood items, medicines and medical supplies, and a field hospital, jointly donated by QFFD, QRCS, and QC.
In addition, there were 12 ambulance vehicles, eight donated by Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), and four by QRCS. Out of the 42 aircraft deployed through the Qatari airlift, QRCS contributed aid shipments of 36 aircraft, as well as a specialist relief team to accompany, receive, store, and transport the aid shipments from Al-Arish International Airport to Rafah Border Crossing, in cooperation with the Egyptian Red Crescent.
During her recent visit to Al-Arish, Minister of State for International Cooperation at MOFA, HE Lolwah bint Rashid Al-Khater, met QRCS’s relief delegation. She was introduced to the process of receiving, unloading, sorting, packing, and preparing the Qatari aid shipments to be trucked to Rafah Border Crossing.
QRCS had stepped up phase 1 of the emergency relief intervention, allocating $3.5 million from its Disaster Response Fund to help more than 255,000 beneficiaries at shelter centres in Gaza. Since the beginning of war on Gaza, QRCS has implemented 10 projects in multiple sectors, some of which were funded by QFFD:
1. Food: A total of 306 tonnes of food aid were delivered, including flour (170 tonnes), rice (25 tonnes), and various food items (111 tonnes). QRCS’s field personnel in Gaza prepared and distributed a total of 46,000 fresh meals and 7,750 food parcels.
2. Health: A total of 51 tonnes of medicines and medical supplies were delivered, as well as four ambulance vehicles. A mobile medical clinic was deployed at shelters of internally displaced people (IDPs) in southern Gaza, supported by doctors from Dar Al-Salam Hospital.
3. Shelter: More than 17,000 blankets, 4,500 pieces of kid’s winter wear, and 25 tonnes of firewood were delivered.
4. Water and sanitation: Clean drinking water was provided for 21,000 families at IDP shelters in northern and southern Gaza, with 100 tankers distributing a total of 600,000 liters of water, in addition to 396,000 bottles of water.
QRCS’s personnel are currently entering the QFFD-funded field hospital into Gaza. It comprises 44 inpatient beds, six emergency beds, a pharmacy, and a laboratory. Planned to be deployed in the southern part of Gaza to serve as many IDPs as possible, the field hospital will be operated by PRCS, through doctors from its Al-Amal Hospital.
Despite all the contributions by Qatar and many other countries, and the multilateral diplomatic and political efforts to reach a truce, the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza persists, and needs are still much greater than the available resources. Every individual and company is invited to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, by donating to the #ForPalestine projects announced on QRCS’s website (www.qrcs.qa/pal).
