AMMAN (Jordan), June 21 – Umno is donating US$200,000 to Al-Aqsa Mosque for rehabilitation works after it was badly damaged during Israeli attack last month.

The party’s Welfare Bureau through the Humanitarian Aid Mission for Palestine (HM4P) which arrived here on Sunday channeled the donation (amounting to about RM828,000) to the Al-Aqsa Fund under the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs. It was handed by the bureau Chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim to Jordan’s Minister Dr Mohammad Al-Khalaileh in a brief ceremony at the minister’s office in Amman yesterday.

Also present to witness it were Malaysian Ambassador to Jordan Datuk Jilid Kuminding, Director of the Al-Quds Awqaf Directorate Dr Abdul Satar Al-Qudah, Chairman of the Imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Umar Fahmi Al-Kiswani and Deputy Chairman of Umno Welfare Bureau Datuk Dr Datuk Fathul Bari Mat Jahya.

“We stand in solidarity with the Palestinians. We also intend to deliver donations to the Palestinians in Jordan,” said Abdul Azeez, who will travel to Cairo on Tuesday to continue the aid mission to Gaza.

Sheikh Umar thanked Malaysians, especially Umno for their contributions.

“The USD200,000 will be used for the development or rehabilitation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a result of the recent (Israeli Zionist regime) attack, that damaged some parts of the mosque,” he said.

It is understood that the Malaysian Government through Wisma Putra also donated to Al-Aqsa and the Palestinians.

Each year Jordan allocates USD18 million for the management and maintenance of the al-Aqsa Mosque, including paying the salaries of its employees, including more than 300 officers who keep the mosque safe from arbitrary encroachment by Zionists.

The two-week HM4P mission starting June 19 aims to express Malaysian solidarity to the Palestinians by chaneling humanitarian aid in the form of money, food supplies and medicine to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, West Bank and Palestinians affected in Gaza.

The Israeli onslaught which ended in a ceasefire on May 21 saw the destruction of property and the death of more than 250 Palestinians, including 66 children. The media reported that more than 77,000 Palestinians in Gaza also lost their homes.