A ship with life-saving humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip left Türkiye on Friday. It is the largest health aid the country has sent to the besieged enclave.
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Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca informed that the cargo left the port of Alsancak in the western province of Izmir early Friday. According to the minister, "the aid, organized under the coordination of our Presidency," is expected to arrive at Egypt's Al-Arish port on Saturday.
The ship is headed for Al Arish, Egypt, near the Egyptian border crossing of Rafah to the besieged enclave, which is facing a severe humanitarian crisis worsened by prolonged Israeli bombardment.
The cargo ship is loaded with nearly 500 tons of crucial humanitarian aid, including 51 containers of medical supplies and generators and 20 fully equipped ambulances.
It also includes field hospitals with operating theaters and intensive care units, as well as medicines and medical consumables for use in these hospitals.
The health minister added that the field hospitals and ambulances in question would be deployed in Gaza or at points closer to the Egypt-Gaza border. The necessary coordination with the Egyptian Ministry of Health in this regard is underway, Koca said.
Türkiye has previously sent eight cargo planes with medical supplies to Gaza. However, relentless Israeli air and ground attacks on Gaza since October 7 make it difficult for humanitarian aid to reach the enclave.
For more than a month since the start of the recent escalation following a Hamas attack on Israel, the Zionist regime has plunged the Palestinian population of Gaza into agony by cutting off water, electricity and fuel supplies.
Many hospitals have been forced to close as the number of injured from the attacks has reached 27,490 citizens, Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said. The number of Palestinians killed rose to 11,078, including 4,506 children, 3,027 women and 678 elderly people. Meanwhile, at least 2,700 people are missing, including 1,500 children, probably under the rubble caused by the bombing.