Morocco sends new medical aid shipment to Gaza
In Morocco’s latest show of solidarity with the Palestinian people, the kingdom has sent its second aid shipment of 2023 to Gaza. Despite domestic pressure to cut ties with Tel Aviv, Rabat has claimed that Morocco-Israel relations are necessary to support the Palestinian people.
Morocco’s foreign ministry announced that it had sent 40 tons of medical aid to Palestinians in Gaza, according to Reuters on June 24th
The aid shipment includes surgery equipment, supplies to treat burns and fractures, and medicine for children.
Transported via air, the aid will be loaded onto Palestinian Red Crescent trucks at the Karem Abu Salem crossing used by Morocco to deliver aid on March 12th, a senior diplomatic source told Reuters.
The Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) checkpoint was purportedly chosen for both shipments to avoid the geopolitical complexities of the Gaza-Egypt border’s Raffa crossing, as well as airdrops which have been reported to malfunction during past operations, causing injury and death.
Moroccan authorities say they are using their ties to Israel to promote peace and defend the rights of Palestinians amid a wave of protests in Morocco criticising the ties, since the Gaza war broke out in October 2023.
READ: Morocco: Casablanca rallies against Israeli ties
Israel’s blockade, bombardment, and invasion of Gaza was in retaliation to an October 7th Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed 1,139 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli social security data.
However, since the attack, Haaretz has revealed the findings of an investigation claiming that many of the Israelis included in the October 7th death toll were killed by Israel Defence Forces (IDF) tank and helicopter fire.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 37,600 people to date, according to the Gaza Health Ministry’s estimates, with many unaccounted for under the ruins.
Reuters / AFP / Haaretz
