KUWAIT CITY, Oct 24, (Agencies): The second relief aid plane for the Gaza Strip departed Kuwait on Tuesday carrying ten tons of materials and supplies. This batch of relief aid was made possible due to the cooperation between the International Islamic Charity Organization (IICO) and the Al-Salam Islamic Charitable Society in line with the Kuwaiti leadership’s directives. Kuwaiti Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said Monday that official and civilian agencies are working together for an air bridge to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The minister made the remark while briefing a customary cabinet meeting on Kuwait’s humanitarian initiative to help Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Earlier in the day, Sheikh Salem Abdullah announced the launch of relief operations through an air bridge to Palestinians in Gaza. During the cabinet meeting, the minister said the initiative, which reflected Kuwait’s principled and relentless stance on the Palestinian cause, was directed by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al- Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

He added that the Kuwaiti air bridge would be overseen by the ministries of foreign affairs, defence and health and the Air Force, in collaboration with the Kuwait Red Crescent Society, Kuwait Relief Society and other humanitarian charities. Kuwait urged on Tuesday the international community, represented by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), to prevent the use of starvation as a military and political weapon against Palestinians in Gaza, and to ensure delivering humanitarian aid to them.

Kuwait’s permanent representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Yousef Jheil made the remarks during the UN committee’s annual meeting, which was held at FAO’s headquarters addressing the starvation and the siege imposed by the Israeli government on the people of Gaza. Jheil also said that Kuwait appeals to the member states of CFS to adhere to the right to food for all and without discrimination in accordance with the Charter of the Food and Agriculture Organization and the United Nations. He also called on member states and the international community to accelerate the delivery of food and humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, calling on FAO and all its member states to search for urgent solutions to confront the acute shortage of food and water in the Strip. Representatives of member states from various regions of the world supported Kuwait’s position in support of saving the Palestinian people from the threat of starvation.