Venezuela to shelter orphaned, injured Gazan children

Venezuela has offered to shelter Palestinian children who have been orphaned or injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, China's Xinhua news agency reported Foreign Minister Elias Jaua as saying on Friday.

"A number of Palestinian children orphaned or in need of medical treatment that can be provided by Venezuela will arrive in the coming hours, maybe the weekend," the Venezuelan News Agency cited Jaua as saying at a public event.

Jaua, who was in Egypt and other Middle East countries earlier this week on a mission to help Palestinian children, said his government was in talks with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to coordinate the assistance. In addition, six tonnes of aid would also be flown to Gaza on Monday or Tuesday, added the minister, whose Palestinian counterpart, Riyad al-Maliki, is set to visit Venezuela next week. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced last week the creation of shelters for young Palestinian victims of the fighting.

According to UN reports, as rescue teams retrieved additional bodies from previously inaccessible locations, the cumulative Palestinian death toll rose to 1,922 by Friday morning, of whom 1,407 are believed to be civilians, including 448 children.