Jordan's King Abdullah II and several members of the royal family donated blood on Tuesday and urged Jordanians to follow suit in support for Palestinians wounded in five days of clashes with Israeli forces, a palace spokesman told AFP.
"This is another one of the concrete measures taken by His Majesty King Abdullah to support the Palestinians brothers through the crisis they are facing," the spokesman said.
Abdullah opened Jordanian hospitals to Palestinians injured in the bloody clashes with Israeli troops, ordered a collection of funds and medical assistance and now is calling for a blood donation to be launched, he said.
He, his brother Prince Faisal and other members of the royal family donated blood at the Al-Hussein Medical City, a military hospital where 16 Palestinians were admitted.
Several of the patients underwent surgery to extract bullets from their bodies, including the father of a 12-year-old boy who died during a gun battle Saturday between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops.
Abdullah also decided to pay personally for the medical expenses of Jamal al-Durra, who tried in vain to protect his son, Mohamed, from the gunfire, the spokesman said.
Sixty people have been killed in the clashes and more than 1,000 people have been wounded - AMMAN (AFP)
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