Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, today held a press conference to announce the results of the Food for Gaza initiative’s technical round table and to present the first batch of humanitarian aid collected for the population of Gaza.
“With this initiative we have reaffirmed the Italian Government’s commitment to the humanitarian emergency in the Gaza Strip: we are working to ensure that the aid arrives as soon as possible,” Tajani commented, pointing out that the initiative aims to bring concrete help for the food security and health of Palestinian civilians.
“We are grateful to the entire Italian team that has been on the ground in recent weeks,” the Minister added, thanking the UN Rome-based Agencies, the Italian Red Cross and FICROSS and the Italian Protection Department (Protezione Civile), as well as Coldiretti and Confagricoltura, from whose warehouses the aid will depart.
Since 7 October 2023, Italy has been at the forefront of responding to the humanitarian emergency in the Gaza Strip. Since then, the Italian Government has provided a series of aid packages totalling EUR 55 million. This includes the “Food for Gaza” initiative, whose total allocation currently stands at EUR 30 million.
The presentation will also be attended by representatives of FAO, WFP, FICROSS and the Italian Protection Department (Protezione Civile), which are partners of the Food for Gaza initiative. Also present were the President of Coldiretti, Ettore Prandini, and the Chief Executive Officer of Filiera Italia, Luigi Scordamaglia, associations that support the initiative.
The Italian Custom Agency is also involved in the initiative through the supply of a latest-generation scanner that will be shipped on Thursday to Gioia Tauro on its way to Cyprus and then used to check the aid containers that will flow into the Strip.
