By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL- Despite a blockade on humanitarian aid to Gaza, Turkish President Erdogan said his country was sending assistance to Gaza residents which was loaded onto planes bound for Egypt. Meanwhile, on Friday, Turkiye’s Red Crescent social media account shared photos of aid packages displaying its logos and those of AFAD,. unloaded at Egypt’s el-Arish airport. The non-profit organization has already launched an aid campaign for Gaza. The aid includes food and healthcare supplies that will be transported via trucks to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza despite having been under heavy Israeli bombardment. On Thursday, a Turkish Defense Ministry official said delivering aid directly to those in Gaza would be a major challenge. The Rafah border crossing was bombed on October 10 and Egypt has kept the crossing open, urging Israel not to target it. This crossing is the only current connection to the outside world for those in Gaza. Talks on delivering humanitarian aid were held between Egypt, the U.S., Qatar and Turkiye, according to security sources in Egypt. Discussion focused on delivering the aid through the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula under a limited ceasefire. On Thursday, Egypt said international aid for the Gaza Strip would be directed to the El-Arish International Airport, north of the Sinai Peninsula.
Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay) chief Fatma Meric Yilmaz said Thursday that her organization was ready to deliver aid to Gaza and that the Turkish Red Crescent operates an orphanage and soup kitchen in the area. Yilmaz who was attending an event in Ankara, said that humanitarian aid workers were being targeted in attacks, adding that four members of the Palestinian Red Crescent were killed in the bombardment. As Yilmaz explained: “We are in coordination with the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) of Turkiye and made all preparations. We’ll send aid whenever a corridor is open. We already started delivering aid materials from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Socieities (IFRC).” Yilmaz stressed that in order to send aid, the corridor must remain open.
Photo : AA
