Saudi Arabia took part on Friday in the high-level Paris International Conference to Assist Civilians in Gaza, which was called for by French President Emmanuel Macron.
King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) Assistant General Supervisor for Planning and Development Dr. Aqeel bin Jumaan Al-Ghamdi, who headed the Kingdom's delegation to the conference, delivered a speech in which he hailed the initiative to hold a conference to provide relief and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in Gaza in light of the current humanitarian situation there.
He also expressed the Kingdom's appreciation for France's initiative to address the unprecedented suffering of defenseless civilians, and for coming up with mechanisms that guarantee the speedy entry of food and pharmaceutical supplies in and restoring of energy to Gaza Strip
He said: "We are meeting today to revive hope in the souls of our affected brothers in Gaza Strip who have experienced bitter pain over an entire month during which their tragedy exceeded human limits, and to share the burden of legal and moral responsibility dictated by our humanitarian values and principles by providing urgent humanitarian support to the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip."
Al-Ghamdi said that in view of the magnitude of this humanitarian disaster, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, directed the launch of a national campaign to collect donations to participate in alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people.
The amount of money collected to date is more than $115 million, he said, and the campaign is ongoing
Al-Ghamdi said out of its humanitarian responsibility toward the Palestinian people, the Kingdom "presented an honorable model befitting its international position", through mobilizing humanitarian and development efforts, and establishing relief bridges through official channels, in cooperation with the UN and international humanitarian organizations.
This brought the whole number of projects implemented in this regard to 274, worth more than $5 billion; of these, KSrelief implemented 112 projects, worth about $370 million.
Al-Ghamdi added that the Kingdom calls for the continuation of intensive efforts to alleviate the consequences of the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza, lift the siege, open the crossings, deliver humanitarian aid, implement international humanitarian law, protect civilians, and deliver aid to those in need.
