Turkish Red Crescent dispatches over $3.4M aid to Gaza amid ongoing crisis

By Elif Kucuk and Lale Bildirici

ISTANBUL (AA) — The Turkish Red Crescent has dispatched 100 million Turkish liras (over $3.4 million) worth of aid to the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, the head of the relief group said on Sunday.

Addressing an event in Istanbul, Fatma Meric Yilmaz said the Red Crescent had gathered about 500 million liras ($17.3 million) in financial donations, with around 100 million liras of it already dispatched as immediate assistance.

Additionally, the organization has sent in-kind aid carried from Türkiye on 11 aircraft and two ships.

In an update on the organization's relief efforts in Gaza amid the ongoing Israeli attacks, Yilmaz said food aid by Türkiye was managed entirely by the Turkish Red Crescent. The aid it sends also includes hygiene packages and clothing, she added.

Highlighting the challenges faced by volunteers operating within Gaza, she noted restrictions on entering and exiting the besieged enclave due to the intensity of the conflict.

Despite these challenges, local volunteers from the Palestinian Red Crescent continue their humanitarian work within Gaza, said Yilmaz.

Adding that one of the Turkish Red Crescent's local staff members in Gaza, named Abdullah, had been wounded in the conflict and had underwent surgery, she said efforts were ongoing to establish contact with him and learn of his current condition.

The Israeli army resumed bombing the Gaza Strip early Friday after declaring an end to a week-long humanitarian pause with the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

More than 15,500 Palestinians, mostly children and women, have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Hamas.

The official Israeli death toll stands at 1,200.