By Huseyin Bagis and Metin Aydemir
IZMIR, Türkiye (AA) - A ship carrying life-saving humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip from Türkiye left from the Aegean province of Izmir early Friday.
Medical supplies and ambulances were loaded onto the cargo ship, which anchored at Izmir’s Alsancak Port late on Thursday.
After the loading was completed, the ship left port to head to Al Arish, Egypt, close to Egypt’s Rafah border crossing into the embattled enclave.
Nearly 500 tons of aid equipment, including medicine, medical devices, eight field hospitals, 20 ambulances, and medical consumables, will be delivered to the Gaza through Egypt, as previously announced by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.
Already hit by a 16-year Israeli blockade, since the start of the current conflict over a month ago, Gaza has been cut off from water, electricity, and fuel supplies, with many hospitals having to shut down as a result.
This situation makes aid deliveries from countries like Türkiye a critical lifeline to the Gaza Strip, which has been under relentless attack by Israel since Oct. 7, in the wake of an attack by Hamas on Israel.
*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz