Saudi Arabia Continues its Support for UNRWA, Sea Bridge to Follow

A Saudi relief plane arrives in Gaza carrying aid, including food and shelter supplies (SPA)
A Saudi relief plane arrives in Gaza carrying aid, including food and shelter supplies (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Continues its Support for UNRWA, Sea Bridge to Follow

A Saudi relief plane arrives in Gaza carrying aid, including food and shelter supplies (SPA)
A Saudi relief plane arrives in Gaza carrying aid, including food and shelter supplies (SPA)

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) is providing $15 million to support the first phase of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Emergency Appeal for Gaza.

The KSrelief contribution will cover assistance in the food security, shelter, non-food items, emergency, health, and WASH sectors.

The Center asserted that UNRWA is the only international humanitarian organization capable of providing support on the ground inside the Gaza Strip.

The plan will be implemented immediately through the existing partnership between KSrelief and UNRWA and will address the critical humanitarian conditions and challenges inside Gaza, including the severely restricted access to the area.

According to the statement, the targeted programs will be implemented to ensure that emergency aid and services are provided to affected groups as quickly as possible.

It asserted that Saudi Arabia stands with the Palestinian people and is committed to providing comprehensive humanitarian relief and support to Gaza through the work of KSrelief.

On October 15, Riyadh presented a check for the annual contribution of $2 million from Saudi Arabia to the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini.

The amount constituted Saudi Arabia's scheduled annual contribution to the Agency to enable it to continue providing relief services and food, medicine, and humanitarian needs to the Palestinian people.

For his part, Lazzarini praised the Kingdom for its ongoing support, highlighting that it consistently stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and supports the Agency in achieving its humanitarian goals.

The Commissioner-General renewed his call for the UN member states and the international community to support the Agency's efforts in assisting the Palestinian people facing critical conditions.

Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the launch of a humanitarian appeal to raise $1.2 billion to help 2.7 million Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia dispatched the seventh relief plane from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh to el-Arish International Airport, Egypt, preparing to transport aid to the affected people inside the Gaza Strip.

Donations to the Saudi National Campaign for Gaza through the Sahem platform, directed by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, exceeded SR494 million from over 773,310 donors.

For his part, KSrelief spokesman Samer al-Jutaili revealed that Saudi Arabia will launch a sea bridge to send aid to Gaza.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Jutaili explained that the parties are exerting efforts to mobilize resources through a sea bridge expected to carry thousands of tons of aid within a short period.

The sea bridge will help increase the humanitarian aid, said Jutaili, adding that Saudi Arabia has supported Palestine in the past ten years with up to $5.2 billion.

Palestine was the third country receiving aid from KSrelief with 112 projects at a cost exceeding $369 million.

The spokesman pointed out that Saudi Arabia also provided UNRWA with urgent aid of about $1 billion when it was about to close due to a lack of funding during the past three years.



Qatar Pledges Aid for Gaza as More Trucks Cross into the Territory

 This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows an afternoon view of destroyed buildings in Gaza, on January 20, 2025, following a ceasefire deal a day earlier between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (AFP)
This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows an afternoon view of destroyed buildings in Gaza, on January 20, 2025, following a ceasefire deal a day earlier between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (AFP)
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Qatar Pledges Aid for Gaza as More Trucks Cross into the Territory

 This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows an afternoon view of destroyed buildings in Gaza, on January 20, 2025, following a ceasefire deal a day earlier between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (AFP)
This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows an afternoon view of destroyed buildings in Gaza, on January 20, 2025, following a ceasefire deal a day earlier between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (AFP)

Qatar on Monday announced plans to supply post-ceasefire Gaza with resources via a “land bridge” at Kerem Shalom, on the border between Egypt, Israel and the coastal Palestinian enclave.

After sending 25 fuel trucks to Gaza on Monday, Qatar plans to supply Gaza with 3.3 million gallons (12.5 million liters) of fuel over the next 10 days, its Foreign Ministry said. The fuel is intended to provide basic services and power hospitals and shelters.

Over the course of the 16-month war, the majority of aid has crossed into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, although it has intermittently closed amid disagreements over what kind of aid can be allowed into the strip. Israel previously restricted entry of some equipment, arguing it could be used for military purposes by Hamas.

Allowing more aid into Gaza is a central tenet of the ceasefire deal’s first phase and will be key to later reconstruction efforts. The deal allows for hundreds of trucks — more than Israel has previously allowed — to deliver aid to Gaza.

Egypt’s state-run press center said Monday that at least 300 aid trucks entered Kerem Shalom and the Nitzana crossing to the south since the ceasefire took effect, as well as 12 diesel trucks and four gas trucks.

However, some of those trucks have carried food aid labeled for UNRWA, the UN agency that Israel has vowed to ban from operating even as it remains the primary distributor of aid in Gaza.

Truck drivers told The Associated Press that throughout the war, vehicles have been turned back for minor bureaucratic infractions or not having aid properly packaged or wrapped.

“If items are approved, we unload them and head back to Egypt ... Some trucks have to drive all the way back with packages they left with that contain expired food aid or that the driver’s or truck information is not listed correctly,” driver Hamdy Emad said.