A group planning to send an aid convoy to the besieged Gaza Strip enclave staged a collection in Keighley.

Members of the Bradford branch of Viva Palestina were present at the Ghosiyah Mosque, in Cark Road.

Worshippers donated money which will mostly be used to buy urgently-needed medical supplies.

A bloody war between militant group Hamas and Israel late last year reduced large parts of the densely populated Gaza Strip to rubble, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians homeless.

The Viva Palestina volunteers brought one of their vans to Cark Road. The vehicle should form part of the convoy, due to set off from the UK on December 5.

Convoy leader Mohammed Siddiq described conditions in Gaza as “dire”.

“Hardly anything is getting into Gaza, apart from what they receive via the tunnels under the Egyptian border,” he said.

He said the vans should be travelling through Europe, then would cross Syria, Jordan and Egypt.

He added he expected the journey to take about three weeks.

Karl Dallas, chairman of the Bradford branch of Viva Palestina, stressed the aid initiative was being backed by churches as well as mosques. Abdul Gaffar, the charity’s Keighley representative, said he was pleased with the response to the collection at the Ghosiyah Mosque. He said similar collections would be staged in Keighley’s other mosques over the coming weeks. Find out more about the appeal for Gaza at vivapalestina.org.