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Former Vice President of India Hamid Ansari on Sunday said the relief aid by India to Gaza should have been sent earlier.

“It is a good thing and should have been done earlier,” Ansari was quoted by PTI as saying. The ex-vice president’s remark comes on a day when India’s humanitarian aid to Palestine reached Egypt. The IAF C-17 aircraft had taken off from Ghaziabad’s Hindon airbase with nearly 6.5 tonnes of medical aid and 32 tonnes of disaster relief material including life-saving medicines, surgical items, tents, sleeping bags, tarpaulins, sanitary utilities, water purification tablets among other necessary items.

“Spoke to the President of the Palestinian Authority H.E. Mahmoud Abbas. Conveyed my condolences at the loss of civilian lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza. We will continue to send humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people. Shared our deep concern at the terrorism, violence and deteriorating security situation in the region. Reiterated India’s long-standing principled position on the Israel-Palestine issue”, the prime minister had posted on social media platform X.

“The Indian annual contribution to UNRWA was increased from USD 1.25 million to USD 5 million in 2018. India has pledged an annual contribution of USD 5 million for the next two years (FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25)”, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said on Thursday.

More than 4,741 Palestinians have been killed and 15,898 wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Hamas carried out coordinated strikes on Israel in the morning of October 7.

A new convoy of 17 aid trucks entered war-torn Gaza on Sunday as Israel stepped up strikes on the Palestinian enclave which is suffering a “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in the war sparked by Hamas’s bloody attack, AFP reported.

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