Jeddah: Saudi Arabia has pledged 200 million riyals (Dh195.8 million) in humanitarian aid for the victims of the Israeli assault against Gaza which has killed more than 172 people.
The funds will pay for medicine and medical equipment to treat “victims of the brutal Israeli aggression and bombing of the Gaza Strip,” Finance Minister Ebrahim Al Assaf said late Sunday.
The aid will be channelled through the Palestinian Red Crescent, Al Assaf said in a statement carried by the SPA state news agency.
The Israelis began the so-called “Operation Protective Edge” before dawn on Tuesday after blaming Gaza’s Hamas rulers for being responsible for the killing of three Israeli colonists in the West Bank.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged the Israelis to scrap plans for a ground offensive against the Hamas-held enclave, saying “too many” Palestinian civilians had been killed.
— with inputs from AFP
