A leading charity in delivering humanitarian relief to Palestinians, the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) launched a donation campaign to load its 10th aid ship to Gaza.
The Turkish Red Crescent, in coordination with the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), sent its ninth ship last week. The ship is expected to return soon and will depart again with about 3 tons of aid aboard, according to a report by the Sabah newspaper. The charity aims to continue its aid operation for Gaza until the Palestinian enclave fully recovers from the devastating attacks of Israel, which cut off access to basic needs, from food to water, for tens of thousands of people since Oct. 7.
The latest ship recently arrived at the Al-Arish port of Egypt, the entry point of aid from around the world for Gaza which shares the only fully accessible border with Egypt. The ship carried 227,000 food packages, 826 tons of flour, 700 kilograms (1,543.24 pounds) of gluten-free food, 14,700 baby diapers, 2,000 sleeping bags and 400 tons of assorted humanitarian supplies. The aid was unloaded at a temporary warehouse set up by the Turkish Red Crescent at the Egyptian port. Some 25 truckloads of aid from the vessel were delivered to Gazans. The 10th ship is expected to depart within 15 days after the ship in Egypt returns.
The charity also cooperates with AFAD to provide water to Gazans via Egypt. They signed a deal with an Egyptian water plant for daily delivery of 7 tons of water to Gaza. In the meantime, it plans to deliver aid via Jordan to Gaza and readies aid trucks. Some 24 trucks will deliver aid daily to Gaza.
The United Nations has long complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza in the six months since Israel began an aerial and ground offensive in Gaza.
Israel's military campaign has reduced much of the territory of 2.3 million people to a wasteland with an unfolding humanitarian disaster since October.
The head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said on Tuesday that the daily average number of trucks entering Gaza during April was 200 and that there had been a peak on Monday of 316.
"We have always stressed that we were in a man-made situation and it can only be addressed by political will and decisions, and the last few days show this is possible," he told reporters. "The more we sustain this, the more we will have a positive impact."
There was also now a focus on garbage collection, he added, especially in southern Gaza, in a bid to avoid disease outbreaks as the warmer weather approaches.
The UNRWA has been described by top U.N. officials as the backbone of aid operations in Gaza. But earlier this year, Israel accused 12 UNRWA staff of taking part in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks. Israel's allegations led 16 countries to pause or suspend funding of $450 million to UNRWA.
Lazzarini said the UNRWA currently has enough funding to pay for operations until June. However, funding by the U.S., UNRWA's biggest donor at $300 million to $400 million a year, has been suspended by the U.S. Congress until at least March 2025. "If it is a lasting suspension it will have a sustainable impact on the agency. If it is a temporary suspension, I do believe we can find a temporary solution with some donors stepping in," Lazzarini said. He also said there has been an "extraordinary kind of grassroots solidarity" with UNRWA, which had raised $100 million from online public donations in the past six months.
The Turkish Red Crescent deployed its largest aid shipment of the year to besieged Gaza early in March in time for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, delivering over 2,700 tons of aid, including food parcels containing ready-to-eat meals, water, food packages, flour, clothing, hygiene kits, shelter materials such as tents, sleeping bags and blankets, medical equipment and baby supplies. The aid agency is coordinating with the Egyptian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Red Crescent to ensure that the aid trucks reach recipients in need 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. During Ramadan, its staff on the ground handed out meals at sahur and iftar, the sunrise and sunset meals for Ramadan eaten before and after the daily fast.
Türkiye, which has denounced Israel for its offensive in densely populated Gaza and called for an immediate cease-fire, has sent tens of thousands of humanitarian aid items there since the start of the conflict last year.
Türkiye has been a vocal critic of Israel since the start of the conflict and a staunch defender of the Palestinian cause.
Israeli’s blockade of the Palestinian enclave often hinders aid efforts. Türkiye collaborates with Egypt, which hosts the only feasible land crossing with Gaza to deliver aid.
