Turkish Red Crescent delivers aid in Gaza

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Emergency medicine and medical equipment has been delivered to Palestinians at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, officials from the Turkish Red Crescent said on May 15.

The permanent representatives of the Turkish Red Crescent in Gaza and Jerusalem locally obtained emergency medical equipment worth $100,000 and successfully delivered it to hospitals and the Palestine Red Crescent over the course of the night of May 14 and 15.

The aid group is waiting for permission from the Israeli authorities and international institutions to dispatch two containers of emergency medicine and medical equipment from Turkey to Gaza.

Red Crescent head Kerem Kınık told state-run Anadolu Agency on May 14 that they faced serious bureaucratic obstacles for the shipment of these medicines.

The Red Crescent also plans to give food support to 30,000 families in the region.

At least 59 Palestinians were killed and hundreds more injured by Israeli forces along the Gaza border on May 14 amid protests marking the anniversary of the Nakba and the relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Turkish Health Minister Ahmet Demircan on May 15 said at parliament that Ankara is taking initiatives to bring wounded Palestinians to Turkey.

May 15 marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Israel, an event Palestinians refer to as the “Nakba” or “the Catastrophe.”