Pakistan dispatches 2nd batch of relief goods for Gaza

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan on Tuesday dispatched a second consignment of relief goods for war-battered Gaza, state-run Pakistan Television reported.

Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani along with Palestinian Ambassador to Pakistan Ahmed Jawad Rabi'i, and Human Rights Minister Khalil George, saw off a special plane carrying 90 tons of hygiene kits, medicines, and food packages at Islamabad International Airport.

Expressing Pakistan’s full support and solidarity with Palestinians, Jilani underlined the urgency of bringing an immediate end to Israeli aggression and lifting a lingering siege of Gaza.

Pakistan had sent the first consignment of 100 tons of relief goods to Gaza last month.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said that Jakarta is ready to send its naval medical ship to the waters near Gaza to provide treatment to the victims of Israeli airstrikes.

Subianto said Jakarta is planning to coordinate with countries in the vicinity of the Palestinian Gaza Strip, including Egypt, to obtain approval for sending the hospital ship.

Jakarta on Saturday shipped over 51 tons of humanitarian aid for Gaza.

Hundreds of thousands of Indonesians on Sunday held a massive rally in solidarity with Palestinians facing indiscriminate attacks by Israel.

Some Rp 2 billion (around $128,584) were collected in donations during the rally held in the capital Jakarta.

Jakarta-based Medical Emergency Rescue Committee said the Indonesia Hospital in Gaza is only tending to the sick and has “no involvement with military activities or with any organizations other than medical bodies.”

It was reacting to the Israeli military’s allegations that the facility was used by Hamas "to launch attacks."