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
Israeli settlers target wells, disrupt water supply to 19 Palestinian areas near Ramallah
- Settlers broke windows, doors, control panels and cut the cables rendering the wells completely inoperable
- Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian homes and businesses have increased since October 2023
LONDON: Israeli settlers attacked water wells in the Ein Samia area, northeast of Ramallah, overnight, causing a disruption in the water supply for several hours, according to the Jerusalem District Water Department's report on Sunday.
The Palestinian Authority’s water authority reported that settlers targeted wells number two, four, and six in Ein Samia, disrupting their operation from Saturday at 10 p.m. until Sunday at 9 a.m. The attackers broke windows, doors, control panels and cut the cables, rendering the wells completely inoperable.
It warned that attacks on the primary water source jeopardized access to water for over 19 areas in the occupied West Bank, worsening the difficulties faced by residents near Ramallah.
Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian homes and businesses have increased since October 2023.
These incidents include vandalism, arson, shootings, and the destruction of agricultural lands and water sources, often intended to pressure residents into leaving their land. Israeli authorities often provide protection for settlers during attacks, including military deployment to accompany them and suppress local resistance, the Wafa news agency reported.
Excluding East Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, some 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, along with about 3 million Palestinian residents.
