Kurdish charities in northern Iraq extend a helping hand to Gaza

Kurdish Charities in the Iraqi Kurdistan region have been collecting aid and sending it to the people of Gaza, who are facing a humanitarian crisis following more than two months of Israel's relentless war on the besieged coastal enclave.  

"We have been collecting money donated by civilians in the Iraqi Kurdistan region and sending it to the people of Gaza via trusted charities in Qatar and Turkey," Haji Karwan, head of Baxtawari Charity Organisation, told The New Arab during a phone interview. "Collecting aid to the people of Gaza is an Islamic and humanitarian duty. We see that Israel has been committing so many massacres against the people of Gaza, mostly targeting women and children."

He added that although Kurds in the Iraqi Kurdistan region are living in a financial crisis, donations his charity received were beyond their expectations. He also asserted and expressed his appreciation towards the authorities in the Kurdistan region for not restricting charity efforts in aiding the people of Gaza.   

"A woman who only had 10 Iraqi dinars had granted it to the people of Gaza; another one donated her golden ring from her finger. Thanks to God, the donations were more than we had expected," he remarked. 

Baxshin Charity Organisation in the Kurdistan region also gathered financial donations from the people of Kurdistan and used the money to purchase goods, clothes, and medicine for the needy people in Gaza. 

"Following their calamities, we have initiated to only collect financial aid to the civilians of Gaza stripe in Palestine as receiving other aid and trying to deliver it to Gaza needs cargo flights that are too costly," Sarbaz Hassan from Baxshin Charity Organisation told TNA. "Thanks to God, we have collected a good number of aids from the people of Kurdistan. We have a team based in Egypt who supervises purchasing foodstuffs, winter clothes, medicine, and medical equipment and sends them to the people of Gaza via other partner charities."

He also added that as the first Kurdish charity to send food stuff relief to civilians in Northern and Southern Gaza on 1 November, they managed to deliver relief for the fourth time, including 11,2000 medicine parcels and nearly 4,000 packages of basic foodstuff and drinking water.     

He also appreciated the Kurdish authorities for not restricting their relief efforts.

"We have sent the relief under the name of donations from the Kurdistan region, and the flag of the Kurdistan region and Iraq were on our relief packages." 

Other Kurdish charities are also sending relief to the people of Gaza, including the Humanitarian League Organisation and the Hana Charity Organisation.  

Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas following its 7 October attack on southern Israel that killed at least 1,150 Israelis, with over 200 Israelis captured and taken to Gaza to negotiate the release of thousands of Palestinians held by Israel.

At least 17,177 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip since 7 October, including 7,112 children, with over 46,000 Palestinians wounded, according to health authorities in Gaza.