Saudi Pledges $53.3 mn in Aid For Gaza

Saudi Arabia has pledged 200 million riyals ($53.3 million) in humanitarian aid for the victims of the Israeli offensive against Gaza which has killed more than 170 people.

The funds will pay for medicine and medical equipment to treat "victims of the brutal Israeli aggression and bombing of the Gaza Strip," Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf said late Sunday. 

The aid will be channeled through the Palestinian Red Crescent, Assaf said in a statement carried by the SPA state news agency.

Israel began Operation Protective Edge before dawn on Tuesday in an attempt to halt cross-border rocket fire by Palestinian militant groups.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has urged Israel to scrap plans for a ground offensive against the Hamas-held enclave, saying "too many" Palestinian civilians had been killed.