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LONDON: Kuwait dispatched on Sunday its 16th plane carrying aid and relief supplies bound for the territory of Gaza as the Arab Gulf state continues its humanitarian airbridge to support Palestinians.

Talal Al-Hindi, representative of the Kuwaiti Red Crescent Society, said that the Air Force plane, carrying 10 tonnes of food supplies, landed on Sunday at Al-Arish Airport in northern Sinai, Egypt.

The aid consisted of 540 food baskets provided by the Kuwaiti charity association Khairat.

KRCS organized the aid delivery to Gaza in cooperation with the Kuwaiti ministries of foreign affairs, defense, and social affairs.

Al-Hindi added that several Kuwaiti charities contributed to the shipment and that the Kuwaiti Embassy in Egypt, along with the Egyptian Red Crescent Society, is supporting and facilitating the delivery of aid to Palestinian families in Gaza.

The second phase of Kuwaiti air support has transported over 150 tonnes of essential humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Israeli authorities detained several Kuwaiti nationals last week who participated in the Global Freedom Flotilla, which aimed to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, where at least 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since late October 2023.

Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry said that the government is working to secure the release of its citizens and is monitoring their safety in Israeli detention.

LONDON: Israeli authorities approved a new settlement plan on Sunday to confiscate 35 dunams (9 acres) of land from the Palestinian village of Kafr Qaddum, located east of Qalqilya in the occupied northern West Bank.

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, which monitors settlement activities in the Palestinian territories, reported that the Israeli plan includes the construction of 58 new housing units at the Mitzpe Yeshai settlement, which is situated on the land of Kafr Qaddum.

Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are a breach of international law and UN resolutions, hindering the potential for establishing a Palestinian state, the Wafa news agency said.

In early September, Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right Israeli finance minister, revealed plans to annex 82 percent of the West Bank, a move that would effectively end the prospect of realizing the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have carried out more than 38,000 attacks in the West Bank, including 767 fires deliberately set on Palestinian homes and lands, and more than 1,000 demolitions that destroyed nearly 3,700 structures, including homes and agricultural facilities, according to the commission’s report.

The commission also documented the displacement of 33 Palestinian Bedouin communities caused by settler violence and the establishment of 114 new settler outposts. Israeli forces set up more than 900 permanent and temporary checkpoints in the West Bank, restricting movement throughout the occupied territory.

According to official Palestinian figures, at least 1,048 Palestinians have been killed, and about 10,300 injured by Israeli gunfire, since October 2023.