Turkish diplomatic sources say they are in touch with Israel to resolve the issue of a blocked aid shipment in an Israeli port, Reuters reported Monday.
A shipment from Türkiye consisting of 1,049 containers of supplies including flour, chickpeas, sugar and cooking oil to cover the needs of 1.1 million people for a month was blocked in the port, a United Nations aid agency said Sunday.
The main United Nations agency providing aid to Palestinians in Gaza is facing growing administrative hurdles from Israel, with a shipment amounting to a month's supply of food blocked at the port, the agency's chief said. Israel has alleged that 12 staff members with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) were involved in the Hamas-led offensive on Israel on Oct. 7, with a number of donor countries suspending funding. UNRWA has dismissed staff accused of involvement in the attack and launched an investigation. "We have an environment here which is for the time being quite hostile to the agency but there have been some decisions now which are starting to impact the ability of the agency to properly operate," UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said on Friday. He said UNRWA had been informed by a contractor that provided handling services in the port of Ashdod that it could no longer continue working with UNRWA, following instructions from the Israeli authorities.
As a result, a shipment from Türkiye was blocked in the port, Lazzarini said. He said UNRWA had informed Türkiye of the stoppage. A spokesperson for the Finance Ministry said the matter was in the hands of the government's legal advisor but offered no further comment.
The incident came as Gaza faces a growing humanitarian emergency, with hundreds of thousands facing acute deprivation and hunger, some four months after Israel launched its invasion of the blockaded coastal enclave.
Last week, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on social media platform X that Israel was canceling tax breaks previously offered to the UNRWA. The decision was not formally communicated to the agency, which only learned about it when the statement appeared on the platform, Lazzarini said. UNRWA was set up to help Palestinian refugees who were forced from their homes or fled during the 1948 war that accompanied the foundation of the state of Israel. It still distributes aid and provides education to their descendants in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem as well as Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
Last month, Türkiye said it was concerned by the decision of some countries to suspend funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinians and urged them to reconsider their move.
In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the suspension of funding primarily harmed Palestinian civilians. "Working under very difficult conditions, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) meets the vital needs of millions of Palestine refugees. Since Oct. 7, more than 150 UNRWA personnel have been killed by Israel in Gaza," it added. Several key donor countries, including the U.S., U.K., Italy, Australia and Canada, have said they will halt funding to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees following Israel's allegations that staff members took part in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Other nations, such as Ireland and Norway, have welcomed an investigation into the allegations but said they would not cut off aid.
The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza's population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N. Türkiye is among countries delivering relief to besieged Gaza. With the efforts of Ankara and Turkish nonprofit groups, tons of humanitarian aid was delivered to the Palestinian enclave and more is on the way. Türkiye also evacuated injured Palestinians and cancer patients from Gaza for treatment. On Monday, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) announced that its Gaza office delivered 1,000 food packages in central and northern Gaza where humanitarian aid delivery is hindered due to Israeli attacks. TİKA earlier delivered medical aid, accommodation material and winter clothes to Palestinians under blockade, along with food aid.