India sends medical aid to war-torn Palestine

New Delhi, July 31 (ANI): India on Monday released 2.2 billion dollars worth of medicines for war-torn Palestine with its junior foreign minister handing over a symbolic packet of anaesthetics and cancer drugs to the Palestinian representative in New Delhi.

The aid, New Delhi says, is in response to a request from the Palestinian authorities following the Gaza and West Bank developments.

The first batch, officials said, was being handed over to President Mahmoud Abbas by New Delhi's representative in Palestine and the subsequent consignments will be shipped.

Israel has stepped up air strikes and launched raids into Gaza to stop rocket attacks and recover a soldier captured by militants on June 25. The army has killed 131 Palestinians since it began its assault. About half of them were civilians.

Israeli troops have continued the offensive in Gaza while fighting on a second front in Lebanon following the capture of two soldiers by Hizbollah guerrillas in a July 12 raid, but have failed to stop rocket attacks from Gaza into the Jewish state.

The United Nations had earlier this month said it still needed to raise 250 million dollars of the 385 million dollars it has appealed for in humanitarian aid for Gaza and the West Bank in 2006.

"They (Indian government) are sending (medicines) for the Palestinian people, which they need badly. Because Palestinian people, they are living under siege of occupation, they need the medicine badly. India decided to send two million dollar medicine shipment and now His Excellency E. Ahamed show the symbol of sending this medicine as soon as possible. I hope it ill reach immediately. There is some difficulty to reach but the Indian government (said) they (have) made some effort to reach the medicines to the people of Palestine," Osama Musa, the Palestinian ambassador to New Delhi, said.

In the latest attacks, Israeli forces had last week killed 10 Palestinians, including seven militants and a three-year-old girl in fighting across the Gaza Strip.

Israel's army, which abandoned Gaza in 2005 after 38 years of occupation, said it had carried out strikes against gunmen.

The army has destroyed several offices of the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which accuses Israel of trying to bring down its elected administration.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected demands by militants to free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, but said he might consider it later to help Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate.

he offensive has put pressure on Hamas, which was already struggling under a crippling U.S.-led aid embargo, designed to pressure the group to recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and accept past peace deals.

Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri, whose office was destroyed in a blast earlier this month, said Israel would fail. (ANI)

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