ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s transportation ministry on Tuesday announced it had dispatched 50 truckloads of aid to Syria to support refugees from conflict-hit Gaza and Lebanon. “A convoy consisting of 50 trucks began loading operations from the warehouses of the trade ministry in Anbar province as a first step, followed by other trucks loaded with wheat from different areas towards the [Syrian] capital Damascus,” Iraq’s transportation ministry cited Murtadha Karim al-Shahmani, director general of Iraq’s general company for land transport, as saying. Shahmani said the aid was dispatched to “express solidarity and support for the displaced brothers in Syria and to support them in overcoming difficult circumstances.” Iraq has received over 16,000 Lebanese refugees since Israel intensified its strikes on Lebanon, labeling them as “guests of Iraq.” A large majority of them are staying in the Shiite holy cities of Karbala and Najaf, where they are being aided by religious authorities in addition to the Iraqi government. Israel’s conflict with Lebanon intensified after nearly a year of war in the Gaza Strip to remove pro-Iran Hezbollah fighters from southern Lebanon and allow tens of thousands of Israelis displaced from the north by the Lebanese group’s constant rocket and drone strikes to return safely to their homes. The transportation ministry noted that the step came “in accordance with the central directives to provide humanitarian needs for our brothers in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine.” In late October, an Iraqi migration and displacement ministry official said that between five to ten buses carrying Lebanese refugees enter Iraq daily through the al-Qaim border crossing with Syria. When a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Syria in February 2023, Iraq quickly responded and launched an air bridge through dozens of flights to transport aid to the country.
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