(Adnkronos) – Highlighting its “unwavering commitment” to Palestinians, Italy has given 104 million euros of aid to Gaza and the West Bank since the devastating Israel-Hamas war began on 7 October 2023, Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said in a statement on Thursday.
The Italian funds are for humanitarian assistance and “immediate recovery efforts, to address the crisis and support development in the West Bank,” a foreign ministry statement cited Tajani as saying.
Part of the money is for “humanitarian transport within the ‘Food for Gaza’ initiative,” Tajani added.
Tajani and Italy’s universities and research minister Anna Maria Bernini were due to attend a ceremony on Thursday at Israel port’s of Ashdod, where a shipment is set to arrive containing 15 trucks and 15 tonnes of essential supplies for Gazans, the statement said
Italy is donating the supplies including water distribution tanks and winter relief items to the UN’s World Food Programme as part of the ‘Food for Gaza’ scheme, which the government launched last March with Rome-based WFP, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (also headquartered in Rome), the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
During the latest ‘Food for Gaza’ coordination meeting on 22 January, it was decided together with Bernini to expand the initiative by boosting the number of scholarships for young Palestinians and involving Italian university hospitals in humanitarian efforts, the statement noted.
During his visit to the region, Tajani will hold talks with Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar – their third since January – on implementing the fragile ceasefire which began in Gaza last month. Tajani and Saar will also look at prospects for reviving the stalled Middle East peace process and for rebuilding war-razed Gaza, said the statement.
Tajani is also slated to meet Italian military personnel and experts deployed in the occupied Palestinian territories as part of the European Union’s civilian EUBAM mission to monitor the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt and the MIADIT Palestine, and EUPOL COPPS missions.
During the meetings Tajani will thank the missions “for their daily efforts in supporting the civilian population and contributing to stabilisation efforts in the Middle East”, the statement concluded.
