Red Cross chief visits Gazans hosted in Türkiye, expresses hope for lasting peace

By Kubra Agacyetistiren

ANKARA (AA) - The president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) visited Palestinians from Gaza on Thursday who are being hosted in Türkiye.

Kate Forbes, accompanied by Turkish Red Crescent President Fatma Meric Yilmaz, visited the Gazans, who were undergoing treatment at the Turkish Red Crescent Sehit Serhat Onder Social Service Center.

Forbes expressed her feelings after hearing their stories, saying she is glad they are safe and could come to Türkiye. She thanked them for sharing recollections of their ordeal in Gaza,.

She expressed hope for achieving lasting peace in the wake of the genocide inflicted on Gaza by Israel, saying the organization is looking at what it can do together with the Turkish Red Crescent, Egyptian Red Crescent and Palestinian Red Crescent.

Yilmaz said they had accommodated 12 children and 12 women from Gaza at the center, noting the children were getting better day by day.

She said they were working in coordination with national societies.

She also noted how people wake up to a new tragedy every day in Gaza.

"Today, another major attack took place, and over 100 people lost their lives. As humanitarian organizations, we are doing our best to ensure they have access to food and basic humanitarian needs. Our guests here are entrusted to us, and as long as they stay here, we will continue to treat them as family and move forward together.

"But they also have loved ones back home who are not safe, which saddens them. Therefore, we must once again call for lasting peace from here," she said.

"As long as there is no lasting peace, everything we do will only be like a band-aid. It won't address the root cause. When we hear their stories here, we feel sad, but at least those who can come here are in a safe place.”

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

At least 30,035 Palestinians have since been killed and over 70,457 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.