Turkish military aircraft carrying humanitarian medical supplies for Gaza arrives in Egypt

By Ergun Haktaniyan

EL-ARISH, Egypt (AA) - Turkish military aircraft carrying medical humanitarian aid from Türkiye to the besieged Gaza Strip, including 12 expert doctors and nurses, arrived on Wednesday at El-Arish, Egypt, near Gaza.

After the much-needed humanitarian aid is delivered to Palestinians in Gaza, who have been suffering under Israeli restrictions on supplies of necessities, a group of Gazan patients and children needing treatment unavailable in the strip, accompanied by health care workers, will be transported by plane to Ankara.

The aircraft took off from the Kayseri 12th Air Transport Main Base Command in eastern Türkiye. At about 7 am (0400GMT), the Turkish National Defense Ministry A-400M, loaded with about 1.5 tons of medical supplies, departed for Egypt.

After an approximately two-hour flight, the aircraft arrived at the airport, and the aid supplies for Palestinians were unloaded.

Since a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, an Israeli offensive into Gaza has killed more than 28,000 people and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory'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, which in 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.