Arabs urge int’l community to protect Palestinian women
Kuwait’s relief aid plane lands in Jordan
NEW YORK: The Arab League has urged the international community to support Palestinian women and provide protection to them in the face of the continued Zionist occupation violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This came at a symposium co-organized by the League and the UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States (ROAS) on the sidelines of the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Speaking before the event, Arab League Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Haifa Abu Ghazaleh urged backing Palestinian women during their struggle.
She stressed the need to shed light on the Zionist crimes against humanity, women, and girls in the Gaza Strip, saying that disastrous consequences for women in the Strip caused by Zionist occupation should be investigated. Kirsi Madi, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Women Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management, Sustainability, and Partnerships, called on all to provide protection to women during the armed conflicts to help achieve an immediate ceasefire in the Strip to establish justice and preserve the rights of women to a life free from violence.
For her part, Amal Hamad, Palestinian Minister of Women Affairs, said the crimes in the Palestinian territories exposed the claims of the “civilized” world. Palestinian women have paid a heavy price due to the genocide committed by the Zionist occupation forces under the watchful eyes of the world and its human rights organizations. Director of ROAS of the UN Development Program Abdullah Al-Dardiri considered women in Gaza “the decisive cornerstone” of their families’ ability to steadfastness, saying that they are primary caregivers and they maintain life in Gaza by providing food, caring for the sick, or supporting people with disabilities.
The ongoing war caused unlimited harm to women, although they still play a key role in economic and social recovery in the Strip, he noted. Greta Gunnarsdottir, Director of the UNRWA Representative Office in New York, highlighted the risks to women and called for an immediate ceasefire, which can only provide protection to civilians, including women.
Finally, the head of the AL mission to the UN, Ambassador Majid Abdelfattah, said the UN Security Council is paralyzed due to ongoing geopolitical shocks, which prevented reaching a ceasefire after five months of the start of the Zionist occupation. The event featured some dignitaries from the Arab states, representatives, and experts tasked with women’s affairs across the globe.
Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Jordan, Hamad Al-Marri, discussed with the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Jordanian Hashemite Charitable Organization, Prince Rashid bin Al-Hassan, on Tuesday the mechanism for delivering Kuwaiti humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. In remarks to KUNA, the ambassador said that the two sides discussed the delivery of Kuwaiti humanitarian and relief aid into Gaza and ensuring its full and comprehensive access to the Strip. He stressed that the Jordanian Hashemite Charitable Organization is responsible for implementing the process of delivering humanitarian and relief aid to the Gaza Strip from the Jordanian side and is concerned with coordination and cooperation in this regard.
Relief aid plane
Kuwait’s 48th plane, loaded with relief supplies for Palestinians, arrived at Jordan’s Maraka International Airport, carrying 45 tons of food to be distributed in Gaza. Kuwait’s Counsellor in Jordan, Nasser Al-Mutairi, Assistant Military Attache at Kuwait’s Embassy in Jordan, Brigadier General Mutlaq Al-Jufaidan, and other top officials welcomed the plane at the airport. Deputy Director General of the Kuwait Society for Relief (KSR), Omar Al-Thuwaini, said in a statement to KUNA after the plane’s arrival that this food aid comes within a campaign launched by KSR in cooperation with various humanitarian charities.
Various Kuwaiti organizations are participating in this campaign, under the supervision of the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Health, Social Affairs, and the Kuwaiti Air Force, in cooperation with the Kuwait Red Crescent Society, the Kuwait Society for Relief, the Al-Salam Society for Humanitarian and Charitable Works, and other humanitarian institutions.