Aid for Palestine piles up

As Gaza faces an unrelenting Israeli attack, Indian Muslim charities and political parties are exploring ways to reach out to needy and besieged Palestinians, facing food and medical shortages.

As Gaza faces an unrelenting Israeli attack, Indian Muslim charities and political parties are exploring ways to reach out to needy and besieged Palestinians, facing food and medical shortages.

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The South Asian Council for Minorities (SACM) is working through diplomatic channels to ship surgical items worth Rs 27 lakh to Gaza. “The Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza has written to us, asking if the pending medical goods could be sent over,” said SACM general secretary Navaid Hamid.

The Zakat Foundation of India, a Delhi-based charity, is talking to two international agencies — UK-based Islamic Relief and Muslim Aid — to help channel Indian aid for Gaza, its president S. Zafar Mahmood said. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind said it was ascertaining “specific needs” of Gaza hospitals.

The CPM had collected Rs 1.36 crore under the ‘Palestine Solidarity Fund’ over the past two years, but the money remains stashed in banks. “We haven’t been able to utilise it because

Israel controls all routes,” party chief Prakash Karat told HT.