Ireland Pledges €42 Mln to Aid Palestine

Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Trade, Helen McEntee, announced a new financial aid package of €42 million for UNRWA, the Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent Societies, and several other humanitarian actors to support the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip.

During a visit to the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian side, McEntee praised Egypt's significant role in containing the situation in the Gaza Strip and calming tensions. 

She also commended Egypt's efforts in supporting the people of Gaza and the Egyptian Red Crescent's efforts in receiving and delivering humanitarian and relief aid to the Gaza Strip.

Moreover, she emphasized the need for increased humanitarian and relief aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, the necessity of ending the war and establishing peace in the Middle East through a two-state solution, and the dire conditions faced by civilians in the Strip, particularly with the onset of winter. 

Furthermore, she stressed the importance of implementing the second phase of the peace plan for Gaza, as agreed upon at the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Conference.

For his part, North Sinai Governor, Major General Dr. Khaled Maghawer, reviewed Egypt's efforts in receiving, storing, and dispatching humanitarian and relief aid to the Gaza Strip, as well as receiving wounded Palestinians for treatment in Egyptian hospitals, in accordance with the mechanism established by the Egyptian Ministry of Health.

The Irish Minister, heading a high-level delegation, visited North Sinai Governorate for several hours.

She was received at El Arish International Airport by Major General Dr. Khaled Maghawer, Governor of North Sinai. 

The visit included an inspection of the Rafah border crossing from the Egyptian side, accompanied by the Governor of North Sinai and Dr. Khaled Zayed, Head of the Egyptian Red Crescent branch in North Sinai. 

The Irish Minister also visited the Egyptian Red Crescent's logistics warehouses in El Arish and met with wounded Palestinians receiving treatment at El Arish General Hospital.