Sanaa El-Nahhal plans to leave for Gaza on Thursday after filling 30 boxes with medicine, food and clothes, all donated by the public.

The 40-year-old San Ġwann woman who describes herself as being Maltese-Arab, said she could not continue watching the news and do nothing while her family and friends were caught up in the conflict with Israel.

"I want to go there and see things with my own eyes. And I want to do all I can to help my people," she said.

While elated with the response to her call for donations from the Maltese, she hopes to fill another 10 boxes by the time she leaves. She is also willing to come back for more supplies if everything goes according to plan and if the war continues.

Her plan is to take the boxes with her to Cairo Airport in Egypt where a number of family members will be waiting for her with a truck.

She will then drive into Rafah, her hometown in the Gaza Strip, where the conflict has left hundreds of Palestinian civilian casualties.

She does not yet know when she will return to her two daughters and husband in Malta and says she is prepared to stay with her Palestinian family for "as long as she is needed".

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