The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday sent a relief aid convoy to hard-hit Gaza Strip via Jordan's King Hussein Bridge, the official Petra news agency reported.

The 12-truck convoy is loaded with necessary children aid items, said UNICEF. It aims to help Gaza's children who are facing severe shortages in medical and food supplies under Israel's flagrant aggression, added the organization.

Meanwhile, a fresh aid convoy by Jordan also crossed the King Hussein Bridge en route to Gaza Strip, said the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO).

The three-truck convoy includes foodstuff and medicine that will be distributed in cooperation with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

JHCO said the organization will send aid convoys to the coastal enclave until the end of the Israeli aggression.

About 990 people in the impoverished Gaza Strip have been killed and some 4,500 others wounded since the launch of the Israeli raid, which it said was aimed at revenging Hamas rocket and mortar attacks.

(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2009)