CAIRO: A new Malaysia humanitarian mission has arrived in Gaza on Sunday, the Kelab Putera 1 Malaysia (KP1M) said in announcing they had crossed from Egypt into the Palestinian territory. The team is expected to visit sites across the territory during its visit, which left over 100 Palestinians killed in the latest Israeli onslaught against the people. The volunteer mission includes medical staff and media, who arrived by bus late Saturday night local time at the Egyptian border. “This is a real ground zero mission, and the team members will be able to see and gather actual information from their own observation," mission chief and KP1M president Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim told reporters. He said that the team would also visit two hospitals and handover medical supplies as well as aid to the needy. Before leaving Malaysia, Abdul Azeez had said that the mission aimed to help 40,000 Palestinian families in Gaza by providing food and blankets. Meanwhile, head of the medical team, Alwi Abdul Rahman, said they would open a health clinic besides supporting local doctors and paramedics, including conducting training sessions. The sessions would cover areas such as CPR, post-traumatic stress disorder and treatment for injuries. “We'll also cooperate with the local children's hospital and organise psycho-social activities like football matches and drawing competitions for local children here," he said. On the medical supplies brought by the mission this time, Dr Alwi said the items could serve up to 2,000 patients and last at least 6 months. “It is likely that most of the patients suffer from post-traumatic and injuries as a result of the conflict. But, most importantly, we're also here to offer them moral support," he added. It is the latest humanitarian effort by Malaysia for Gaza. Last weekend, around 120 Malaysians entered the Gaza Strip as members of the Aman Palestin Solidarity Mission 2012 to deliver donations worth RM1.8mil from Malaysians of all walks of life, the Malaysian government said in a statement on Friday. The volunteers, including professionals, artists and students, entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday early evening after crossing at the Rafah Border Crossing from Egypt. Awang Sufian Awang Piut, chief executive officer of Aman Palestin, an initiative to assist Palestinians through donations and humanitarian projects, said the long trip was worth it as the team brought donations in various forms, including medicine and the newly planned micro-credit opportunities, a mechanism for Gazans to rebuild their lives. “We are bringing in RM120,000 (about US$40,000) of medicine, RM315,000 (US$105,000) for poor families, and RM300,000 (US$100,000) for orphans in Gaza. This is certainly not enough; we hope to do more," he told Bernama news agency at the Rafah Crossing earlier in the day on Friday.
