Saudi Arabia launches donation drive to support Gaza

By Ibrahim Al-Khazen

ANKARA (AA) – Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have launched a public online fundraising campaign to support the Palestinians in Gaza amid the ongoing 27-day Israeli military onslaught in the Strip.

King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed directed the launch of a public campaign through the "SAHEM" platform, an initiative under the King Salman Centre for Relief and Humanitarian Action, to provide relief to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

According to the agency, Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, the supervisor of the King Salman Centre, emphasized that "this public campaign is in line with the Kingdom's historical role of standing with the Palestinian people during various crises and hardships."

"The Kingdom is at the forefront of global donor countries in providing support to the Palestinian people," Al-Rabeeah added without providing specific statistics.

As per the royal directive, the campaign was launched on the "SAHEM" platform under the title "The Public Campaign to Aid the Palestinian People in Gaza," as reported by the Anadolu correspondent.

As of 11:20 AM GMT, the campaign had registered approximately 30,000 donors, with an initial donation total exceeding 56 million Saudi Riyals (15 million USD), with the number of donors increasing rapidly.

Al-Rabeeah announced that both King Salman and the Crown Prince donated 30 million Saudi Riyals and 20 million Saudi Riyals, respectively (13 million USD in total), to the campaign, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

The King Salman Centre "does not deduct any fees from the donations and delivers them in full to the beneficiaries'', Al-Rabeeah stressed.