Türkiye evacutes another group of citizens, kins from Gaza

ISTANBUL

Another group of 68 people including Turkish citizens and their family members arrived in Istanbul early on Dec. 6 after being evacuated from the war-torn Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Coordinated by the Foreign Ministry and the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), the group had reached Egypt through the Rafah border gate before boarding a plane bound for Istanbul.

Welcomed by their relatives, ministry representatives and AFAD officials upon landing, the citizens, including many children and the elderly, were ushered into vehicles provided by AFAD to be accommodated in hotels after completing passport control.

Most recently, an evacuee group of 142 Turkish citizens arrived in Istanbul early on Dec. 4.

Ankara also engages in talks and efforts to transfer Gazan patients to Turkish soil. Approximately 200 people comprising patients and their companions have been brought to Türkiye thus far, according to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

Earlier, a Turkish delegation visited the besieged strip to conduct a feasibility study for a planned field hospital.

Koca, in a statement, revealed that the exact location for the field hospital had been determined following the delegation's examination.

Among the evacuated patients are those suffering from blood diseases, while the remaining individuals are oncology patients. Notably, these people were primarily transferred from the Turkish-run hospital in Gaza, which had been struck by Israeli forces.