Israel donates $500,000 to Afghan refugees in Tajikistan

Israel has donated $500,000 to the United Nations for food, medical aid and other assistance for Afghan refugees in Tajikistan, the Foreign Ministry announces.

Alon Ushpiz, director general of the ministry, says Israel is proud to be part of the international effort to help Afghans who fled from the Taliban takeover of the country in August. Ushpiz says the aid is part of Israel’s commitment to the international community.

The donation came the same day the UN made what it called a record $5 billion appeal to help Afghanistan and its neighboring countries.

The appeal seeks $4.4 billion for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and its partners, plus $623 million for the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, to help more than 6 million Afghans who have fled. That’s about 15% of Afghanistan’s total population.

Others continue to trickle across the border, UNHCR said, while noting that an estimated 175,000 have returned to the country since the Taliban takeover.