Chile sent its first consignment of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza on Thursday as a plane with 3.5 tons of medical materials aboard headed for Jordan.

The aid will be received in Amman, capital of Jordan, by Chilean ambassador Luis Palma Castillo, official sources said.

The Chilean government said it was preparing a second consignment -- 12 tons of mattresses, medicines and clothes -- expected to be sent in the second week of February.

Chile has the biggest Palestinian community outside the Middle East with some 300,000 Palestinians living in the country.

Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed and more than 5,500 others were injured during recent raids launched by Israeli forces against Hamas in Gaza.