A flight carrying humanitarian assistance to the people in Gaza has left Copenhagen Friday.<\/p>\n
The flight, with 51 tons of medicines, medical items, and education supplies on behalf of UNICEF on board, will land in Egypt to be transported to Gaza. <\/p>\n
The flight is part of 6 upcoming flights of the European Union humanitarian air bridge operation transporting essential supplies provided by partners for fast deployment to the field. <\/p>\n
The EU is funding the total cost of all flights and supporting the coordination of operations under the European Humanitarian Response Capacity.<\/p>\n
The upcoming flights are scheduled to be rolled out along the next two weeks. Besides UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Program (WFP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will be partnering to provide the humanitarian cargo to the needy. <\/p>\n
The situation in Gaza is dire and keeps deteriorating with only marginal amount of aid items have been allowed in through an Egyptian crossing point.<\/p>\n
Israel is not permitting fuel to cross the border saying that Hamas will misuse it.<\/p>\n
Janez Lenarcic, the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, urged all involved parties to let aid trucks move without further delay.<\/p>\n
“To alleviate the suffering of the people in the Gaza Strip in these extremely difficult times it is imperative that full, unrestricted and safe humanitarian access into Gaza is granted,” she said. <\/p>\n
Under its humanitarian air bridge operation, the European Union sent two flights in aid of Gaza last week. A total of 56 tons of supplies have so far been transported by UNICEF to the thickly populated enclave. <\/p>\n