Business across Bahrain have pledged to donate a day's revenue as part of a humanitarian campaign to raise funds for the besieged population of Gaza.

Private clinics and health centres make up the majority of participants - with Al Mansoori Dental Clinic and Dr Suha Murbati Dental Clinic in Riffa, Dr Suhair Al Saad Clinic in Isa Town and the Smile Dental Centre in Seef on board - but organisers Bahrain Medical Society (BMS) are calling for all businesses to take part, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

"Footwear shops located in Hoora have also joined the campaign, and will be donating their revenue from Thursday (August 28) for the benefit of the victims of Gaza," BMS president Dr Mohammed Al Rafea told the GDN.

"We expect more clinics and businesses to join in the next few days.

"Any clinic or commercial centre interested in joining the campaign is welcome - we are in the process of establishing a large support network for our suffering Palestinian brothers."

Dr Al Rafea said the society was awaiting authorisation from the Social Development Ministry so that it could receive donations offered by residents in Juffair, and was also working on an integrated programme of activities with the Bahrain National Committee.

Meanwhile, the BMS headquarters in Juffair will play host to a cultural event on Thursday at 7pm - designed to further raise awareness of the Gazans' plight.

"There will be cultural activities and a video presentation on the crisis and the destruction," said Dr Al Rafea.

Israel's six-week-long bombardment of Gaza has left 2,114 dead - most of them civilians and more than 400 of them children, according to Palestinian health officials.

On Saturday, a 13-storey apartment tower in Gaza City, which housed 44 families, was flattened by an Israeli air strike, marking the first time so tall a structure had been brought down since the start of hostilities on July 8.

Thousands of homes in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or damaged in the conflict and nearly 500,000 people have been displaced.

Israel has shrugged off international condemnation of its aggression, claiming that Hamas bears responsibility for civilian casualties because it allegedly uses schools and mosques to store weapons and as launching sites for cross-border rocket attacks. - TradeArabia News Service