A Northern Ireland confectionary company has created a new chocolate bar to raise money for relief efforts in Gaza.
Charlie Guy from Provincial Marketing helped to design the ‘Gift for Gaza’ bar, with proceeds going towards the Global Relief Trust, a leading Muslim charity based in the UK.
Speaking to the Irish News, Mr Guy said the money would go directly towards buying food for civilians affected by the conflict.
Charging £2 a bar, he said it could be an alternative to Easter eggs this year for those wishing to help.
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“It’s beyond any sort of political side at this stage,” he said.
“For people who are putting up arguments about ‘what about Hamas,’ I just think what is happening is genocide.
“People are dying and starving to death, so forget about your political loyalties or whatever.
“We need to do something. I do a lot of these novelty bars for promotion and tourism anyway.
“Hopefully we can get the manufacturers to sponsor the bars and produce them at no cost so we can get as much profit on the bars for charity.”
As a distribution business, he is encouraging shops across Ireland to stock the bars in the coming weeks.
Businesses wishing to take part can find contact information on the Provincial Marketing website.
“I’m not doing Easter eggs this year. But if people see these bars in the shop, it will be going towards buying flour and water to help save a life,” Mr Guy said.
“It’s better late than never to try and help.”
After five months of war, Israel has come under increasing pressure to allow more aid into help civilians in Gaza.
The United States and other countries have been airdropping supplies to the isolated region of northern Gaza, with separate plans in place to construct a pier to bring in aid.
Aid groups have said these are still inefficient ways to meet the massive demand on the ground, calling on Israel to guarantee safe corridors for truck convoys.
This has become virtually impossible because of military restrictions, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of law and order after a Hamas-run police force has largely disappeared.
Before the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7 which killed around 1,200 people, around 500 aid trucks had entered Gaza every day.
The current level is now much lower, but earlier in the week Israel had allowed six aid trucks directly into northern Gaza.
With estimates that around 31,000 people have been killed n Gaza since October, most of the 2.3 million population has been displaced and around a quarter of them have been left starving, according to the United Nations.
