VOLGOGRAD, December 28. /TASS/. Representatives of Russia’s ethnic communities have collected more than 20 tons of aid for Palestine as part of the humanitarian initiative "Peoples Together - Through the Years," Kazbek Farniev, adviser to the head of the Russian Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs (FADN) and chairman of the Volgograd-based House of Friendship organization, reported.

"We have collected humanitarian aid for Palestine. The cargo volume is two truckloads, almost two planeloads, that is, more than 20 tons. It includes food, personal hygiene products, medicines, cereals and more," Farniev told TASS, specifying that the cargo is ready for shipment.

Representatives of diverse ethnic communities from more than 30 regions of Russia, ranging from the Far East to the North Caucasus in far southern Russia, participated in the humanitarian aid collection drive. The "Peoples Together - Through the Years" initiative is supported by the Russian Defense Ministry, Emergencies Ministry, the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo), and the federal organization House of Peoples of Russia.

The Russia-wide campaign "Peoples Together - Through the Years" has been ongoing since spring 2022. The FADN delegated the coordination of aid collection to the Volgograd-based public organization House of Friendship. Initially, the charitable project began in Donbass, but later expanded its geographical scope. In 2023, public activists delivered aid not only to the needy in Donbass, but also in Syria, Afghanistan and Armenia. During visits to residents of the areas they serve, House of Friendship activists traditionally prepare rice pilaf and feed all who are in need of a hot meal.

Tensions in the Middle East escalated sharply on October 7 after radical Gaza Strip-based Palestinian movement Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from Gaza. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old Town. Israel has declared a complete blockade of Gaza and has begun retaliatory strikes on the enclave as well as parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank. According to preliminary data, the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since October 7 has led to the death of 20,258 people in the Gaza Strip, with the conflict affecting 53,688 residents of the embattled enclave, more than 70% of whom are women and children.