MOUNT EVEREST — A kite bearing handwritten messages from Palestinian children in Gaza was carried to the summit of Mount Everest on Thursday by a team of Nepali Sherpas led by Italian filmmaker and explorer Leonardo Avezzano. The group reached the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) peak at 10:48am local time (05:03 GMT), according to a social media post from the expedition.
The expedition was spearheaded by mountaineer Mostafa Salameh, 56, who launched it to raise $10 million towards medical aid for children in the Gaza Strip and to draw global attention to difficulties faced by children there during the conflict. Salameh remained at the first base camp due to frostbite and a blood clot in his left hand.
In a video posted online, he said: "I did promise lots of people in my life not to go back to Everest, but this is worth it. As a mountaineer, what I can do is bring the story and suffering of every Palestinian child all the way to the top of the world." He described the risks of the climb as "absolutely nothing compared with what Palestinians in Gaza have endured."
Avezzano and his team planned to return to base camp safely and to assess whether to spend the night at camp four or descend to camp two based on weather conditions.
Salameh, who first summited Mount Everest in 2008 and has now reached the peak four times, is one of 20 people to have completed the Explorer's Slam by reaching the North and South poles and climbing the highest peaks on all seven continents. He was honoured with knighthood by King Abdullah II of Jordan in 2008. He said he had lived in a refugee camp as a child and had met displaced Palestinians while in Egypt. Scaling Mount Everest at 8,000 metres carries immense risks, including death, due to oxygen levels at about 15 percent.