A Keighley woman is to help take a relief convoy to beleaguered families in Gaza.

Aisha Ali Khan will be in a group from Bradford district taking food and medical supplies in 16 vehicles.

The team will be accompanied by Keighley man Abdul Ghafoor who has taken part in relief convoys to several countries.

Aisha and her comrades are also trying to raise £15,000 to buy a mobile hospital to be taken along with the convoy.

She has organised a dinner next Monday at the Anan Restaurant in Bradford to help raise money for the hospital vehicle.

Aisha, a former student at Greenhead High School and Keighley College, is a trained teacher and will use her trip to assess the education needs of children in Gaza.

She is a volunteer with charity Viva Palestina which organises convoys to Gaza, a blockaded Palestinian territory bordered by Israel and Egypt.

The vehicles were driven to the Middle East in April but the Egyptian authorities would not let them travel through to Gaza.

Permission has now been given, so the team including Aisha and Abdul will fly out in September to complete the journey.

Aisha said the new convoy – entitled “Right to Return” – had attracted women from their 20s to their 50s.

She said: “We wanted to make a particular statement because we realised there was so much passion among the women of Bradford.”

Aisha said the mobile hospital would be taken to checkpoints on the borders of Gaza, where some people fall ill while waiting to be allowed through.

She said: “Gaza is like an open-air prison. People are crammed in and there are illnesses, disease and depression. Women are forced to give birth in the worst conditions possible.”

Abdul, an experienced truck driver, has accompanied convoys to Gaza and as well as relief missions to Pakistan and Libya.

The dinner on Monday at 7pm will feature speeches by Bradford MP George Galloway and well-known politician Tony Benn. Tickets cost £15 from Aisha on 07718 990706 or Abdul on 07889 746143.