ANKARA: More than two dozen Palestinian cancer patients, who had crossed from Gaza into Egypt, arrived in Turkiye for treatment in the early hours of Thursday, Turkiye’s Anadolu agency reported.
Two planes carrying the patients, many of them children, landed at Ankara airport shortly after 00:30 am local time (2130 GMT).
Turkiye has sent a ship loaded with material for field hospitals, ambulances and generators to Egypt to treat civilians who have been able to flee Israel’s military operation against Hamas militants in the enclave.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to its attacks on October 7, which killed an estimated 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 240 hostages taken to Gaza.
The Hamas-run territory’s health ministry says Israel’s ensuing aerial bombardment and ground offensive have killed 11,500 people, mostly civilians and including thousands of children.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 27 patients had been flown to Turkiye from Egypt, along with 13 companions, without specifying whether these were doctors or family members.
He added that the cancer patients had been able to cross from Gaza into Egypt via the Rafah border crossing.
Koca had been in Egypt for discussions on the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and said the patients were able to be transferred to Turkiye thanks to “coordination between Turkiye, Egypt and Israel.”
He also said that Turkiye was waiting for Egypt’s permission to open its first field hospital at the Rafah crossing.
“I hope that in the near future — our efforts are going in this direction — we will be able to establish a field hospital in Gaza, in the area near the Rafah gate,” he said.
Turkiye, a mostly Muslim but officially secular nation, has long championed the Palestinian cause and, more recently, has stepped up its verbal attacks against Israel for the soaring civilian toll of its military operation.
Speaking before members of his Islamic-rooted ruling party, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called Israel “a terror state” that was committing “genocide.”
Gaza cancer patients arrive in Turkiye for treatment
https://arab.news/nygmq
Gaza cancer patients arrive in Turkiye for treatment
- Two planes carrying the patients, many of them children, landed at Ankara airport shortly
Arab coalition warns against military moves undermining de-escalation in Yemen
- The coalition’s spokesperson, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, said the warning follows a request from Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council to take urgent measures
DUBAI: The Arab coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government warned on Saturday that any military movements undermining de-escalation efforts would be dealt with immediately to protect civilians, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
The coalition’s spokesperson, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, said the warning follows a request from Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council to take urgent measures to protect civilians in Hadramout Governorate amid what he described as serious humanitarian violations by groups affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council.
The statement said the measures are part of ongoing joint Saudi-Emirati efforts to reduce tensions, facilitate the withdrawal of forces, hand over military camps, and enable local authorities to carry out their duties.
Al-Maliki reaffirmed the coalition’s support for Yemen’s internationally recognized government and called on all parties to exercise restraint and engage in peaceful solutions, the agency reported.
The STC has pushed the internationally recognised government from its headquarters in Aden while claiming broad control across the south this month.
Saudi Arabia has called STC forces to withdraw from areas it seized earlier in December in the eastern provinces of Hadramout and Mahra.
