A cargo vessel carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid en route for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip left a Turkish port yesterday. [...] In recent years, Turkey stepped up its international humanitarian outreach, making it onto a list of most generous countries in 2015 and 2016 as it spent $6.5 billion on humanitarian aid, a high figure compared to the country's gross national income. During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Turkish aid agencies reached millions of people across the world with food aid.

Israel has announced a series of goodwill gestures for Palestinians ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan a day after it warned Gaza's already meager electricity supply could be further reduced following a spat between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas. Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai of the Israeli defense body said in a statement Friday the goodwill measures include access for 100 Gaza residents to attend prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem each Friday throughout Ramadan. West Bank crossings will open longer it also said.

The Gaza blockade, which will reach its tenth year in June, makes it impossible for Palestinians living there to engage with Palestinians living in the remainder of the Palestinian territory – the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Things changed when Nawal heard of the ‘Virtual Majilis’, an online exchange platform run by UNICEF to help connect students in Gaza with students in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The Malaysian Medical Relief Society (Mercy Malaysia) today entered Gaza, Palestine, through the Rafah border crossing in Egypt to deliver humanitarian aid to the people there. According to the volunteer association, the mission this time is the first humanitarian mission allowed to enter through the Rafah border since Mercy Malaysia’s last working visit in 2014.