KUALA LUMPUR: Non-governmental organisations in Malaysia are committed to continue with humanitarian aid missions to Palestine in the new year.
Ops Ihsan secretariat chairman Jismi Johari said they would be collecting funds to provide necessities, including food and personal care items.
He said so far, three humanitarian aid missions to Palestine through Ops Ihsan were carried out in 2023 – on Nov 3 and 10, and Dec 19 – with the value of goods, including transport costs, amounting to around RM14mil.
“Although we have distributed aid such as food, medicine and personal care items, it is still not enough to meet the needs of the people in Gaza.
“Currently, more than 1.7 million people there are homeless and living as refugees, so they need tents for shelter and we hope to provide such assistance,” he told Bernama.
Jismi, who is also Malaysian Humanitarian Aid and Relief (Mahar) president, said the next batch of aid was expected to be sent this month, involving 10 containers by sea.
Ops Ihsan, coordinated by the Foreign Ministry, is led by Mahar along with over 50 other groups, including Global Peace Mission Malaysia, Red A Humanitarian Development Global, Mercy Malaysia, Pertubuhan Ihsan Johor, BeVital and the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations (Mapim).
On Ops Ihsan secretariat’s plans for 2024, Jismi said it aimed to help with tuition fees and living costs for Palestinians in Malaysia, while ensuring the smooth handling of delivery aid for humanitarian missions at the hub in Cairo.
Muslim Care Malaysia president Zulkifli Wahijan said that they had distributed RM3.5mil worth of donations to Palestine since Oct 10, including dry food such as biscuits, rice, flour and beans, blankets and sweaters as well as solar panels to generate energy.
The organisation, he said, also planned to rebuild infrastructure such as mosques, schools and business centres that had been destroyed during Israeli military assaults.
“However, we hope and pray that the oppression will stop so that reconstruction can be done,” he said.
Mapim president Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid highlighted the ongoing communication with the various groups in Gaza to determine the specific needs of the people in the region.
