Big Heart and Sharjah Charity send 95-tonne aid to Gaza

As part of ‘’Operation Chivalrous Knight 3," the Sharjah Charity International (SCI) and The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF) have dispatched a humanitarian aid plane carrying 95 tonnes of relief supplies to support the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

The aid shipment, overseen by Sheikh Saqr Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SCI, includes clothing, food supplies, and essential necessities, to help alleviate the hardships faced by those in need.

The organising bodies behind this mission emphasised that the aid reflects the UAE’s unwavering commitment to supporting affected communities and promoting humanitarian solidarity both regionally and globally.

It is a continuation of the nation’s long-standing approach to assisting those in need. Meanwhile, Egypt, one of the mediators in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, has received positive indications from Israel over a new ceasefire proposal that would include a transitional phase, security sources told reporters on Thursday.

An Egyptian security delegation was in Doha on Thursday for talks aimed at reviving a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Egyptian state-linked media reported. The delegation aimed to "secure the release of prisoners and hostages as part of a transitional phase" that is hoped to pave the way to a more permanent end to fighting, according to Al Qahera News.

They were also due to discuss "the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in preparation for the transition to the second phase of the permanent ceasefire agreement," reported the channel, which is linked to the Egyptian state intelligence service.

The proposal suggests Hamas release five Israeli hostages each week, sources said.

A security delegation from Egypt has left for Qatar for talks, which will include increasing aid to the enclave and releasing remaining hostages, state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Thursday. Asked about the latest proposal, a Palestinian official close to the mediation efforts said "there are some offers that look better than the previous ones". When asked if he expects an announcement on a breakthrough on Thursday, he replied: "Maybe not yet."

Separately, Hamas said an Israeli air strike on Thursday killed one of its spokesmen in Gaza.

Hamas said earlier it mourned the loss of  Abdul Latif Al Qanou, who was killed in what it called a "direct" strike on a tent he was in, in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza. Another strike near Gaza City killed four children and their parents, according to the emergency service of Gaza's Health Ministry.

Israel's war in Gaza has killed over 50,000 people, according to the territory's Health Ministry.

Also on Thursday, the UN's World Food Programme warned that it had only two weeks' worth of food left in Gaza, where "hundreds of thousands of people" are at risk of severe hunger and malnutrition.

"WFP has approximately 5,700 tons of food stocks left in Gaza - enough to support WFP operations for a maximum of two weeks," the Rome-based agency said in a statement. Israel resumed military operations in the Palestinian territory just over a week ago, shattering weeks of relative calm brought by a fragile ceasefire.

The United Nations said on Wednesday that the renewed Israeli operations had displaced 142,000 people in just seven days, and warned of dwindling supplies after Israel resumed a block on humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

WFP said on Thursday that it and others in the food security sector had been "unable to bring new food supplies into Gaza for more than three weeks".

"Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are again at risk of severe hunger and malnutrition as humanitarian food stocks in the Strip dwindle and borders remain closed to aid," it said.

"Meanwhile, the expansion of military activity in Gaza is severely disrupting food assistance operations and putting the lives of aid workers at risk every day," WFP added.

Palestinian armed groups have threatened punishment on Thursday for "collaborators" furthering Israeli goals after the first substantial protests against the war in Gaza and Hamas' rule.