Ops Ihsan secretariat chairman Jismi Johari, who is also Malaysian Humanitarian Aid and Relief (Mahar) president, said the plane carrying 20 tonnes of items donated by Malaysians had departed from KLIA last night.
“The latest delivery means that 40 tonnes of donated items from Malaysians have arrived in Egypt to be distributed to the Palestinians.
“The 40 tonnes of aid are part of a total 50 tonnes of items worth RM7 million that were donated through Ops Ihsan.
“They include essential items such as medical supplies, food, baby essentials and blankets,” he said.
Jismi said the aid would be handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent Society as the sole implementing agency to channel aid to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.
According to him, the first shipment of aid on Nov 3, also amounting to 20 tonnes, was reported to have passed the Rafah border and entered Gaza. This was based on the statistical report of aid entering Gaza from the logistics cluster of the United Nations and the Egyptian Red Crescent Society.
“The goods from this second shipment will reach the people of Gaza in less than a week,” he said.
Jismi said the remaining 10 tonnes of aid and an additional 14 tonnes of items, expected to be collected from the ongoing campaign, would be sent soon using container ships as the goods involved were not suitable for flight.
He said they included generators, batteries, portable solar lights and tents.
“Ops Ihsan continues to receive commitments from various parties, ministries, organisations and companies.”
Ops Ihsan, which is coordinated by the foreign ministry, is led by Mahar, together with more than 50 other NGOs.
Jismi said Ops Ihsan’s next plan was to open a Malaysian humanitarian hub in Egypt to act as a one-stop centre to manage the distribution of humanitarian aid from Malaysia, especially from NGOs, more effectively.
He said the hub would also oversee the purchase of basic food items such as flour, olive oil, tomato paste and drinking water while waiting for the shipment of humanitarian goods from Malaysia via containers to Port Said, Egypt.
“The hub will also discuss with the Egyptian authorities on assisting their health centres in providing medical services to the people of Gaza, in addition to providing assistance to first responders,” he said.