UAE and Egyptian Red Crescent work together for Gaza

Cairo, Jan 12, 2009 (WAM) - Officials of the UAE Red Crescent Authority (RCA) and Egyptian Red Crescent Society yesterday stressed they are working together to further boost their partnership, joint action and coordination to improve the dire humanitarian situation of Palestinians in Gaza Strip and alleviate their suffering. The two sides expressed hope that the current humanitarian efforts would speed up the pace of relief operations in Gaza to meet the challenges present there on field.
This came in a meeting held yesterday in Cairo by an RCA delegation led by Advisor to the Secretary General Saleh Mousa Al Tae'e and the head of Egyptian Red Crescent Society Dr. Majida Fathi Al Sherbini.
The meeting also discussed the urgent needs in Gaza and ways to respond to appeals coming from Gaza Strip which is still being receiving a barrage of Israeli shells from Air, land and sea since December 27th, 2008.
RCA officials said they are procuring relief materials from Egypt's local markets to channel them to Palestinian Gazans in coordination with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and Egyptian Red Crescent Society.
Meanwhile, Deputy UAE Consul General in Egypt Rashid Al Afari said the UAE relief materials are smoothly flowing into Gaza. The UAE relief 50-truck convoy carrying 300 tonnes of materials and 30000 blankets is the biggest of humanitarian convoys heading into Gaza, he added.