India sends medical supplies, disaster relief aid to Palestine; ex-VP Hamid Ansari cries "foul"
Crying foul over India sending humanitarian aid to Palestine, former Vice President of India Hamid Ansari said that said the relief aid by India to Palestine should have been sent earlier.
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Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to convey condolences over the loss of civilian lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, India on Sunday sent its first humanitarian aid for the beleaguered residents of Gaza via Egypt.
"India sends humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine. An IAF C-17 flight carrying nearly 6.5 tonnes of medical aid and 32 tonnes of disaster relief material for the people of Palestine departs for El-Arish airport in Egypt," the Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, posted on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).
The items will be sent to Palestine via the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.
The IAF C-17 aircraft had taken off from Ghaziabad's Hindon airbase with nearly 6.5 tonnes of medical aid and 32 tonnes of disaster relief material including life-saving medicines, surgical items, tents, sleeping bags, tarpaulins, sanitary utilities, water purification tablets among other necessary items.
🇮🇳 sends Humanitarian aid to the people of 🇵🇸!
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) October 22, 2023
An IAF C-17 flight carrying nearly 6.5 tonnes of medical aid and 32 tonnes of disaster relief material for the people of Palestine departs for El-Arish airport in Egypt.
The material includes essential life-saving medicines,… pic.twitter.com/28XI6992Ph
India's aid to Palestine comes three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. During their conversation on Thursday, PM Modi said that India would continue sending humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians. He also conveyed his condolences on the loss of civilian lives in the Gaza Strip due to the bombing at a hospital.
“Shared our deep concern at the terrorism, violence and deteriorating security situation in the region. Reiterated India's long-standing principled position on the Israel-Palestine issue,” PM Modi said after speaking to Abbas.
However, crying foul over sending humanitarian aid to Palestine, former Vice President of India Hamid Ansari on Sunday said the relief aid by India to Gaza should have been sent earlier.
"It is a good thing and should have been done earlier," Ansari was quoted by PTI as saying.
"Spoke to the President of the Palestinian Authority H.E. Mahmoud Abbas. Conveyed my condolences at the loss of civilian lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza. We will continue to send humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people. Shared our deep concern at the terrorism, violence and deteriorating security situation in the region. Reiterated India's long-standing principled position on the Israel-Palestine issue", the prime minister had posted on social media platform X.
VIDEO | "It is a good thing and should have been done earlier," says former vice-president Hamid Ansari on relief aid sent by India to Gaza amid #IsraelHamasConflict. pic.twitter.com/VCozKlHRz7
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 22, 2023
The bloody war between Israel and Hamas, which commenced on October 7 following a surprise and unprecedented attack by the Palestinian terrorist group, has so far claimed more than 5,000 lives on both sides and triggered a massive humanitarian crisis in the Middle-East.