AN all-female team of charity volunteers from Birmingham have undertaken a mission to send care packages to women in war-torn Gaza.

The team of eight women, from charity ISRA-UK, arrived in Cairo last week.

They spent days packing and loading around 3,000 hygiene kits onto a lorry which will be driven across the Rafah border into Gaza.

The kits contain sanitary towels, toothpaste, a toothbrush, body lotion, hand sanitiser, a few packets of wet wipes and shampoo, which were purchased in Egypt with money raised from donations and fundraisers.

Saraya Hussain, 47,  who led the deployment, said: “Seeing the lorry loaded and ready to go was emotional for many of the team as it was covered with our banner with the simple statement of ‘Women for Gaza’.”

Ms Hussain said she had seen reports emerge saying that women were “really suffering with their periods” and using “old rags” and “chopping up old tents” to cope.

She said: “The products will be beneficial to everyone, including women, to help them keep clean and give them a little bit of dignity as best as we can while they’re going through such a terrible time.”

Following another deployment to Turkey after earthquakes, Ms Hussain said she learnt that “largely in conflict and disaster areas, women’s needs, their gender-specific needs, are really often overlooked.

“People go to the default of food, shelter, the basic human needs we all have in common, but forgetting that there’s an additional layer that women have, which is usually around pregnancy and menstruation.”