SEPANG: Malaysia’s second shipment of humanitarian aid for Palestinians through Ops Ihsan departed for El-Arish International Airport, Egypt via a special chartered cargo flight on Friday (Nov 10) night.

The cargo plane carrying 20 tonnes of medical supplies and goods for babies took off at about 11 pm from the Cargo Terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here.

The first shipment involving goods weighing 20 tonnes was made on Nov 3, and the shipments are part of 50 tonnes of goods totalling more than RM7 million collected through Ops Ihsan.

The remaining 10 tonnes of goods are expected to be delivered soon.

Once the aid arrives in Egypt, it will be handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent Society, acting as a partner to bring them into Gaza through the Rafah border.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof who witnessed the sending-off, expressed his appreciation to the people of Malaysia, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), airlines and logistics personnel who made the humanitarian aid mission a success.

Meanwhile, he said Malaysia is ready to send more rubber gloves to the medical teams in the Gaza Strip.

"We (Malaysia) were informed that they are in urgent need of rubber gloves and we are still waiting for confirmation of the actual amount they need,” he told reporters.

Ops Ihsan is an initiative launched by the Foreign Ministry together with more than 50 NGOs including Global Peace Mission Malaysia, Mercy Malaysia, BeVital, MyAqsa Defenders, Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM), Persatuan Wadah Pencerdasan Umat Malaysia (WADAH), Cinta Gaza Malaysia and Malaysian Relief Agency (MRA). - Bernama