By Al-Fassel | 2024-05-22

The amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza continues to increase as an international coalition of countries is working to reach Gazans in need by land, air and sea.

This is in stark contrast to Iran and its allied groups, who have given zero aid since the start of the conflict, despite their rhetoric of brotherly support.

Moreover, Iran's military support for Hamas in terms of training and weaponry has come into the spotlight as the humanitarian needs of suffering Gazans increase.

The opening of the US-built temporary floating pier attached to the Gaza shore has contributed greatly to augmenting the aid delivered.

To date, hundreds of metric tons of humanitarian assistance has been delivered across the temporary pier to Gaza for further distribution by humanitarian partners, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

"The United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates (UAE), European Union, and many other partners have donated this humanitarian assistance," CENTCOM said on May 20.

"The pier is a temporary solution to surge humanitarian assistance to Gaza to meet the urgent needs of the Palestinian people," it added.

Gulf aid

From the start of the conflict, Gulf countries have also been providing humanitarian relief as well as pledging billions of dollars in aid to Gaza.

A UAE shipment of 252 tons of humanitarian relief supplies "was successfully unloaded at the UN warehouses in Deir al-Balah, awaiting distribution to the Palestinians who are in most urgent need," the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said May 19.

"To date, the UAE has delivered more than 32,000 tons of urgent humanitarian supplies, including food, relief and medical items, dispatched through 260 flights, 49 airdrops and 1,243 trucks," it said.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) in March donated $40 million to "provide food for more than 250,000 people and tents for 20,000 families," the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said.

In November, Oman donated $3 million to UNRWA, and in April, it donated $1 million to UNICEF to aid children in Gaza.

Oman also has sent food aid to Jordan, which has been coordinating airdrops of humanitarian assistance into northern Gaza with the US military, and to Egypt, which is coordinating aid entering Gaza via the Rafah border crossing.

The Qatar Red Crescent Society has been providing humanitarian relief in the form of food, medicines and medical supplies, shelter, and clean drinking water to Gazans since the beginning of the war.

On May 12, a conference of international donors in Kuwait organized by the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) and UN humanitarian coordination agency OCHA pledged over $2 billion in aid to Gaza.