Even before the new round of the Palestine-Israel conflict broke out on Oct. 7, Türkiye sided with the oppressed Palestinians. As Ankara fights on the diplomatic front to stop Israeli aggression, nongovernmental organizations deliver much-needed humanitarian assistance to thousands in Gaza.
The Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) has reached out to more than 598,000 people since Oct. 7, delivering humanitarian aid worth more than TL 75 million (more than $2.5 million). Between Oct. 21 and Dec. 5 alone, more than 3,000 trucks loaded with aid were sent by the charity, according to a report compiled by the Sabah newspaper.
Türkiye's Diyanet Foundation, affiliated with the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), has also been active in Gaza. It supplied meals for the staff of Al-Shifa Hospital, which operated under tough conditions amid Israel’s attacks. In refugee camps in Jabalia, the charity delivered 2,000 meals daily. The foundation also donated medical equipment worth $100,000 to hospitals and cash aid amounting to $51,000 for the purchase of fuel for generating the electricity needed for the operation of hospitals.
The Deniz Feneri Association, based in Istanbul, utilized its warehouses where aid was stored before reaching the Gazans. It delivered aid to some 250,000 Palestinians. The Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) supplied 5,862 food packages, 2,300 blankets, 500 pieces of clothing and 10,786 loaves of bread for Palestinians in need. The charity also provided 485 liters of fuel for ambulances. At Al-Shifa Hospital, the IHH delivered 1,106 hygiene kits and medicine. Overall, it aided more than 354,000 people. The Sadakataşı Association delivered meals to 2,000 people in Khan Younis, while the Cansuyu Association also delivered meals in Gaza and sent truckloads of food packages.
Israel opened a new aid crossing into Gaza on Friday as its key backer, the U.S., urged more restraint in its all-out offensive.
Under pressure to do more to spare civilians, Israel announced it would allow the "temporary" entry of aid into Gaza through a second crossing, at Kerem Shalom near Rafah, which was previously being used only for inspections.
The U.N. estimates 1.9 million of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced. Its humanitarian agency, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), says more than a third of households have reported severe hunger, while more than 90% are "going to bed hungry."
Aid distribution has largely stopped in most of Gaza, except on a limited basis in the Rafah area, according to the U.N.
The country also works for the welfare of Palestinian patients trapped in Gaza, including cancer patients and those injured in the Israeli attacks. On Monday, a Turkish military cargo plane brought in 26 patients from Gaza. The plane, carrying 1.2 tons of medications, medical supplies and nine health care personnel, took off on Monday morning for Egypt to deliver aid to Gaza. Earlier Monday, a Defense Ministry-owned A400M aircraft carrying 75 patients and 74 escorts from Gaza landed in Ankara.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday that they were continuing efforts to deliver urgent humanitarian aid to Palestinians. “We continue our efforts, together with all our institutions and organizations, to deliver the urgently needed humanitarian aid for the Palestinians,” Öncü Keçeli said on X.
In coordination with the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), approximately 2,500 tons of humanitarian aid arrived at the Port of Al-Arish in Egypt through 13 air shipments and two ships between Oct. 13 and Dec. 12, he added. “This figure is expected to increase.”
Due to collaboration between the Turkish Red Crescent and the Kuwait Aid Association, a ship carrying 1,107 tons of supplies is approaching the Al-Arish port. Sharing that the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) is delivering aid to Gazan workers stranded in the occupied West Bank, Keçeli said a field hospital in Gaza will be established soon. Since Nov. 16, as many as 182 patients and wounded people, along with 147 companions, have been moved from Gaza to Türkiye and admitted to hospitals, the spokesperson said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society on Monday said 4,301 humanitarian relief trucks entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt between Oct. 21 and Dec. 16. The Red Crescent said in a statement the trucks were loaded with water, food and other relief, and medical supplies. It noted that only 310 trucks reached the northern parts of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, and the northern areas during the weeklong humanitarian pause, which ended on Dec. 1. The number is, yet, far from meeting the growing humanitarian needs amid the ongoing Israeli devastating onslaught against the Gaza Strip. On Nov. 29, the U.N. World Food Programme warned of the possibility of a famine in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the supplies are woefully insufficient to address the hunger levels in Gaza.
