Turkish Red Crescent’s Ramadan aid for Gaza reaches Egypt
THE SEVENTH and biggest humanitarian aid vessel the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) has sent to the besieged Gaza Strip arrived at Egypt’s Port of al-Arish late Sunday, just in time for Islam’s holy month of Ramadan.
The much-needed aid materials will enter Gaza through Egypt at the southern Rafah Border Gate.
The ship’s cargo is over 2,700 tons, including food parcels containing readyto-eat meals, water, food packages, flour, clothing, hygiene kits, shelter materials such as tents, sleeping bags and blankets, medical equipment and baby supplies.
The Turkish Red Crescent is coordinating with the Egyptian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Red Crescent to ensure that the aid trucks reach the needy recipients quickly.
In addition to distributing food packages within Gaza, the Turkish Red Crescent continues providing hot meals to 5,000 people daily by running a soup kitchen in Rafah, southern Gaza.
Starting yesterday, meals will be distributed at sahur and iftar, the sunrise and sundown meals for Ramadan, eaten before and after the daily fast.
Since the new round of conflict broke out, Türkiye sent over 40,000 tons of aid to Egypt for delivery to Gaza, either by military planes or vessels. Turkish charities organized nationwide campaigns to collect donations for Gazans.
At the vessel’s send-off ceremony, Turkish Red Crescent Chair Fatma Meriç Yılmaz assured the ship would be reloaded with similar materials for a second trip to Gaza during Ramadan.
She lamented that the organization’s current capabilities were “limited” under current circumstances but stressed that they would continue advocating for a cease-fire to facilitate aid access to Gaza.
Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, when a cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas was launched, killing some 1,200 people.
Nearly 31,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in the strip. Tel Aviv’s attacked have caused mass destruction, displacement and shortages of necessities. The crippling Israeli blockade also does not let in enough aid for the enclave’s population of over 2 million, leaving Palestinians there vulnerable to famine and disease.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The U.N. court, in an interim ruling in January, ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. have sought to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas before the start of Ramadan, but to no avail. Israeli airstrikes continued across
Gaza, killing and injuring dozens on the first day of the holy month.
Türkiye has been a virulent critic of Israel since the start of the war and a staunch
defender of the Palestinian cause, including holding talks with Palestinian, Israeli and Hamas officials.