People from the Kurdistan region of Iraq are passionately contributing to aid campaigns launched by local organisations to alleviate the starvation of the people of Gaza.
As Israel's genocide continues against civilians in the Gaza Strip, two main Kurdish charity organisations are actively collecting financial assistance from locals in the Kurdistan region and buying foodstuffs, medical aid.
Recently and despite also suffering from economic hardships due to the ongoing political disagreements between the federal government in Baghdad and the regional government in Erbil, residents of Iraqi Kurdistan are enthusiastically welcomed calls for urgent aid to Gaza.
Some locals have reportedly sold out their homes and cars to contribute to the relief of the starving people of Gaza due to the inhumane Israeli blockade. People here in the Iraqi Kurdistan region are very sympathetic to their brothers and sisters in Gaza, whose scenes of starvation are aired through the international and local media, as well as social media platforms.
"Since October 7th, we, as the first Kurdish charity, started collecting aid for the vulnerable people of Gaza, and we are continuing so far," Karzan Faruq, head of media at Bakhshin Charity, said to The New Arab. "The people of the Iraqi Kurdistan region responded to calls for aid beyond our expectations, even when those on the public payroll were not paid for three months. One Kurdish citizen, for example, has donated US$110,000 to the people of Gaza, and some women have sold out their jewellery and donated it to Gazans."
He clarified that in the past, when the Egyptian and Jordanian borders were open, \charities were sending food and medical aid via trucks, but now that the borders are closed by Israel, all the charities are receiving money and transferring it to Gaza to purchase foodstuffs locally and distribute them among people.
Faruq said the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) did not create any obstacles in front of their aid campaigns. He also noted that in the past, their charity has sent aid packages to Syrian and Iranian Kurds during natural disasters.
Another Kurdish charity that has a key role in collecting and sending aid to Gaza is Bakhtawary Charity, led by an Islamic preacher and former lawmaker in the Kurdistan Region Parliament, Haji Karwan.
In a video post on his former Facebook page, Haji Karwan wrote late on Monday that his charity was able to distribute infant milk to Palestinian families in Northern Gaza refugee camps.
While Kurdish NGOs continue their work, the KRG has not officially announced aid for Gaza. Nevertheless, many Kurds in Iraq, having endured displacement and starvation themselves, feel a deep solidarity with Gaza's suffering.