Donors gathered in Kuwait pledged, on Sunday, to provide more than two billion dollars to support the Gaza Strip, which is besieged and destroyed as a result of a war that has been going on for more than seven months.
The final statement of an international donor conference, organized by the International Islamic Charitable Organization and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stated that the amount, which is two billion 696 thousand and 314 dollars, “is being implemented during the years 2024 and 2025, and the initiative will operate during the next two years – as a first phase that can be extended.” To mobilize efforts to support life-saving humanitarian interventions in the Gaza Strip.
The statement read by the Director General of the International Islamic Charitable Organization, Badr Saud Al-Sumait, called for “launching an urgent humanitarian appeal and appeal to all leaders of states and governments, leaders of religious bodies and institutions, and heads of international organizations around the world, to intervene urgently in order to stop the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.” “Especially in light of the development of events in the Rafah area.”
In addition to the Kuwaiti institutions, Qatar Charity, the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation, the Islamic Relief Organization in Birmingham, and the Al-Khair Foundation in Britain participated in the donor conference, along with government and official bodies and several charitable and humanitarian organizations, according to a statement issued by OCHA.
The conference also witnessed the presence of representatives of specialized United Nations agencies and major local, regional and international humanitarian organizations interested in providing relief and development programs and initiatives in the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, renewed his call “for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” of the military invasion of Gaza, while he was in Kuwait coinciding with the conference.
Guterres’s words came during a pre-recorded speech that was broadcast during the conference shortly before he landed in the Kuwaiti capital.
“The war in Gaza is causing horrific human suffering – claiming lives, separating families and leaving huge numbers of people homeless, suffering from hunger and trauma,” Guterres said in his speech.
The UN Secretary-General added: “I reiterate my call – the world’s call – for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and an immediate increase in humanitarian aid.”
He continued: “But the ceasefire will only be the beginning. The road back from the devastation and trauma of this war will be long. The people of Gaza will need stronger and deeper partnerships for humanitarian assistance and long-term development, to get back on their feet and rebuild their lives.”
Shortly after that, Guterres arrived in Kuwait and met its Emir, Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
While receiving an honorary shield from the Emir of Kuwait, he said, “This has a very special meaning for me, and I would also like to receive it on behalf of the United Nations, especially on behalf of the nearly 200 members of the United Nations who were killed in Gaza.”
Earlier, The Eastern Herald reported that the last round of negotiations in Cairo aimed at brokering a ceasefire to halt Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in genocide and ethnic cleansing of millions of Palestinians, ended without resolution, further deepening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Despite intensive discussions, Israel’s rejection of proposed terms for a ceasefire agreement and its subsequent ground invasion in Rafah indicate a calculated strategy to maintain leverage.
Also, the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, labeled Israel’s military aggression in Gaza as genocide, citing over 30,000 Palestinian deaths, including more than 13,000 children, and 71,000 injuries. She urged immediate sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel. Israel rejected the findings, maintaining its conflict is with Hamas, not civilians. Gulf and African nations supported Albanese’s report, while the US, Israel’s ally, abstained from the session.
