Press Release

OFID extends US$1 million in emergency aid to Gaza victims

41/2008 December 30, 2008 Vienna, Austria
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The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) today donated US$1 million to the people of Palestine to aid in emergency relief efforts following the crisis which erupted December 27, resulting so far in more than 350 dead and thousands injured. The OFID assistance is to be channelled through the Islamic Relief (IR). The grant amount will be drawn from OFID’s Special Grant Account for Palestine.

  

In a statement, Mr. Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish, OFID Director-General, expressed deep sympathy with the people of the affected Gaza Strip, saying he hoped hostilities will cease immediately; so that suffering will end and the affected and the injured can be adequately attended to. Mr. Al-Herbish said OFID’s grant is a gesture of the institution’s empathy with the population of the Gaza Strip, and that the resources will be used for the provision of medicines, medical supplies and equipment.

 

Islamic Relief, founded in 1984, is a non-political, non-profit, non-governmental organization with headquarters in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Its core mission is to help alleviate poverty and suffering among disadvantaged people in developing countries. The organization has 22 field offices and is signatory to the Code of Conduct for The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief.

Air raids against the Gaza Strip began December 27 and were continuing today. According to medical sources on the ground, the numbers of dead and injured are sadly expected to rise with the continuation of the raids and the reduced capacity of the Gaza medical teams to cope. Various sources report the attack to be the worst in Gaza since 1967, in terms of casualties and scale of bombardment.

Islamic Relief deployed a needs assessment team to the affected areas, hospitals, ambulance stations and first aid clinics. According to the group, there is continuing need in all Gaza hospitals and health centres for medical disposables, first aid tools, equipment and medicines and more intensive care units. The World Health Organization Palestine Office has been allowed by the Israeli Authorities to assist in coordinating the delivery of supplies and equipment to Gaza and to coordinate emergency aid from international donor agencies.