JEDDAH: A 15th Saudi plane carrying aid for the Ukrainian people has arrived at Poland’s Rzeszow Airport which is located near the Ukrainian border, Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.
The plane was carrying 70 tons of relief items, including electric generators and appliances. The aircraft was operated by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, and will later cross the Polish border into Ukraine.
The aid is part of Saudi Arabia’s historical commitment to supporting those in need or affected by crises and difficulties worldwide.
Meanwhile, the United Nations human rights office said that Israel’s restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza could amount to a war crime.
“The extent of Israel’s continued restrictions on entry of aid into Gaza, together with the manner in which it continues to conduct hostilities, may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime,” said UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence.
Anti-poverty charity Oxfam also accused Israel of intentionally preventing the delivery of aid into Gaza during its war with Hamas, in violation of international humanitarian law.
The nongovernmental organization said on Monday in a report that Israel continued to “systematically and deliberately block and undermine any meaningful international humanitarian response” in the Palestinian territory.
It alleged that Israel was defying an order by the International Court of Justice in January to boost aid in Gaza, and was failing its legal responsibility to protect people in land it occupies.
“The ICJ order should have shocked Israeli leaders to change course, but since then conditions in Gaza have actually worsened,” said Oxfam Middle East and North Africa director Sally Abi Khalil.
