Iraq to send aid flight to Gaza via Egypt

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi aircraft is scheduled to fly Wednesday to the Egyptian city of Al-Arish to transport humanitarian aid to Gaza, the Ministry of Defense said.

Maj. Gen. Tahseen al-Khafaji, director of media and moral guidance at the Ministry of Defense, said in a statement, “An Iraqi aircraft will head on Wednesday to the Egyptian city of Al-Arish to transport humanitarian aid to Gaza, provided by the Iraqi people.”

Iraq has sent multiple humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza since the conflict there escalated following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. On Oct. 23, 2023, the Iraqi Air Force began transporting the first batch of aid to the Gaza Strip via El Arish Airport in Egypt, where it was to be received by Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent committees before transfer to Gaza. Subsequent air shipments included the third batch of 11 tons of humanitarian and medical aid on Nov. 4, 2023, and a fourth shipment of about 11.28 tons of food and relief materials on Nov. 21, 2023. Iraqi military aircraft also transported a 16-ton medical supply load from Karbala in early December 2023 as part of ongoing efforts.

In March 2024, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense dispatched a shipment of 482 tons of flour and food supplies to Gaza via Al-Ghabawi warehouses in Jordan, with representatives from the Jordanian Charity Organization and the U.N. Relief and Works Agency present during the delivery.

Iraq has continued support into mid-2024, with the Iraqi Red Crescent Society announcing in June that a land relief convoy carrying over 500 tons of food and medical supplies was en route to Gaza through Jordan’s Trebil crossing and then Egypt’s Nuweiba port toward the Rafah border crossing, the main access point for aid into the territory.