Turkey’s Erdogan issues orders sending first humanitarian aid to Gaza

Tayyip Erdogan

ANKARA, October 13. /TASS/: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued instructions to deliver the first batch of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip via Egypt.

Aircraft carrying humanitarian cargo have already flown out of Turkey, A Haber television said.

The humanitarian aid will reportedly be delivered via the Rafah crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when Palestinian militants from the Hamas movement attacked Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and carried out strikes on targets there and inside Lebanon and Syria, too. Hostilities have also broken out on the West Bank.

More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in clashes and strikes, while over 7,200 have suffered wounds, since the renewed outbreak of violence began. In Israel, roughly 1,500 people have lost their lives and almost 4,000 have been wounded.