Saudi Donations to Gaza Exceed $100 Million

Trucks with Saudi aid to the Palestinian people (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Trucks with Saudi aid to the Palestinian people (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Donations to Gaza Exceed $100 Million

Trucks with Saudi aid to the Palestinian people (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Trucks with Saudi aid to the Palestinian people (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi donations to the National Campaign to support the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip via the "Sahem" portal exceeded $102 million on its fifth day since its launch.

On Thursday, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman issued directives to launch a fundraising campaign on Sahem affiliated with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) to aid the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

Conditions are worsening in the Gaza Strip under Israeli strikes. The Palestinians need support amid lack of adequate food, shelter, clean water or medicine.

More than half a million donors provided direct financial support to alleviate the suffering in Gaza and contribute to providing the people with the necessities of life.

On Oct. 15, the Saudi Ambassador to Jordan, Nayef bin Bandar al-Sudairi, presented a check for the annual contribution of $2 million from Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The contribution will allow the UNRWA to continue providing vital relief services such as food, medicine, and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini lauded the Kingdom for its ongoing support. He said the Kingdom consistently stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and supports the agency in achieving its humanitarian goals.

Lazzarini stressed the importance of solidarity and support from the international community.

He urged UN member states and the international community to lend their support to the agency's efforts in assisting the Palestinian people, who are currently facing challenging conditions.

KSrelief embodied the Saudi role in supporting reconstruction and development and providing relief worldwide, making it the most significant supporter and prominent source of relief in the Middle East and various regions.

The center provides assistance to 94 countries worldwide, implementing 2,587 humanitarian and relief projects worth more than $6 billion within just eight years of its launch. It targets vital sectors such as food, education, health, nutrition, water, environmental restoration, and shelter.

Saudi diplomacy is exerting extraordinary momentum to mobilize an Arab, regional, and international position toward stopping Israeli military operations in the Palestinian territories and ensuring the arrival of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Riyadh will host four summits within 48 hours early next week, starting with an emergency Arab League summit to discuss the situation in Gaza, two Saudi and Arab summits with Africa, and a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation countries on Sunday.

The Kingdom repeatedly called on the international community, represented by the Security Council, to assume its responsibilities and stop the escalation, prevent the forced displacement of Gazans, and find a just and comprehensive political solution to the Palestinian cause.

Meanwhile, senior Humanitarian Affairs at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Abdul Haq al-Amiri, asserted that Saudi Arabia is in constant contact with international relief and humanitarian organizations, maintaining that the Kingdom has no political or ethnic purposes.

Saudi support and relief programs are established through many official platforms that the government founded years ago, including the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.

The Kingdom focused on rationing support and aid, targeting vital and strategic aspects that benefit individuals and governments of affected countries.



Iran’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia: Our Pilgrims Continue to Arrive in the Kingdom for Hajj

Iran’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Alireza Enayati speaks to Asharq Al-Awsat. (Turky Al-Agili)
Iran’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Alireza Enayati speaks to Asharq Al-Awsat. (Turky Al-Agili)
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Iran’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia: Our Pilgrims Continue to Arrive in the Kingdom for Hajj

Iran’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Alireza Enayati speaks to Asharq Al-Awsat. (Turky Al-Agili)
Iran’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Alireza Enayati speaks to Asharq Al-Awsat. (Turky Al-Agili)

The first batch of Iranian pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia to perform this year’s Hajj amid an integrated system of services offered by the Kingdom for pilgrims from all over the world.

Iran’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Alireza Enayati told Asharq Al-Awsat that the second batch of Iranian pilgrims will arrive on Tuesday.

“They are being generously welcomed by Saudi Arabia, as are all pilgrims and as have all Iranians over the years,” he stressed.

The first batch of arrivals were administrative and social staff that will accompany the Iranian pilgrims. They will be followed by the pilgrims on Tuesday after Iran reopened its airspace over the weekend.

Pilgrims first started arriving in the Kingdom on April 18.

The Kingdom is dedicating all of its means to serve them and allow them to perform the holy rituals with ease.

Enayati hoped the Iranians would perform the rituals with ease and return home safely, expressing his gratitude to Saudi and Iranian authorities for their services.

The Iranian embassy is ready to offer any assistance and is coordinating with the Saudi Foreign Ministry, he added.

He noted the recent telephone call between Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi that tackled regional developments and diplomatic efforts exerted towards them.

Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry has been implementing the Makkah Road Initiative for eight years as part of the Pilgrim Experience Program. It is being carried out in 10 countries: Morocco, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Türkiye, Cote d'Ivoire, Maldives, Senegal and Brunei Darussalam.

Since its launch in 2017, the initiative has served over 1.2 million pilgrims. It aims to facilitate their journey through offering integrated services in cooperation with the relevant ministries and agencies.


Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Receives Written Message from Djibouti’s President

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed Elkhereiji during a meeting at the ministry's headquarters in Riyadh with Ambassador of Djibouti to the Kingdom Dya-Eddine Bamakhrama. SPA
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed Elkhereiji during a meeting at the ministry's headquarters in Riyadh with Ambassador of Djibouti to the Kingdom Dya-Eddine Bamakhrama. SPA
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Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Receives Written Message from Djibouti’s President

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed Elkhereiji during a meeting at the ministry's headquarters in Riyadh with Ambassador of Djibouti to the Kingdom Dya-Eddine Bamakhrama. SPA
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed Elkhereiji during a meeting at the ministry's headquarters in Riyadh with Ambassador of Djibouti to the Kingdom Dya-Eddine Bamakhrama. SPA

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received on Sunday a written message from Djibouti’s President, Ismail Omar Guelleh, concerning bilateral relations between the two countries.

The message was received by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed Elkhereiji during a meeting at the ministry's headquarters in Riyadh with Ambassador of Djibouti to the Kingdom and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Dya-Eddine Bamakhrama.

During the meeting, the two officials reviewed ties between Saudi Arabia and Djibouti, and discussed the latest developments in the region and the world.


Saudi Arabia Denounces Shooting Targeting Event Attended by US President

File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
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Saudi Arabia Denounces Shooting Targeting Event Attended by US President

File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expressed its denunciation of the shooting that targeted an event attended by US President Donald Trump, SPA reported.

The Kingdom expressed its solidarity with the United States of America and affirms its rejection of all forms of violence.