ANKARA: A team of Turkish disaster response specialists is stationed at the Egyptian border, awaiting Israeli authorization to enter Gaza and help in search and recovery operations, a Turkish official told AFP on Friday.
The 81-member team from Turkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) is equipped with specialized search-and-rescue tools, including life-detection devices and trained search dogs.
They “are currently waiting at the border on the Egyptian side,” the official said.
The group is prepared to locate and recover bodies trapped under rubble.
“It remains unclear when Israel will allow the Turkish team to enter Gaza,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Initially, Israel preferred to work with a Qatari team, but we are hopeful that our delegation will be granted access soon.”
A Hamas source told AFP the Turkish delegation is expected to enter Gaza by Sunday.
AFAD personnel are experienced in operating under extreme conditions, having responded to numerous natural disasters, including the devastating earthquake in southeastern Turkiye in February 2023 which claimed over 53,000 lives.
The Turkish official noted that the Turkish team’s mission includes locating both Palestinian and Israeli bodies, including hostages believed to be buried or hidden in collapsed structures.
However, the task is complicated because some Israeli hostages may have been disguised in local clothing to evade detection by Israeli drones during transfers.
“This situation is expected to complicate search operations and delay progress,” the official said, adding that Hamas is expected to provide location data related to hostages.
Concerns have been raised by some observers over the potential misuse of the Turkish team’s heavy equipment, with fears that it could be repurposed by Hamas to access underground tunnels.
Turkish experts await Israeli go ahead to help recover bodies in Gaza
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Turkish experts await Israeli go ahead to help recover bodies in Gaza
- A team of Turkish disaster response specialists is stationed at the Egyptian border, awaiting Israeli authorization to enter Gaza and help in search and recovery operations
WHO alarmed by health workers, civilians ‘forcibly detained’ in Sudan
- The WHO counts and verifies attacks on health care, though it does not attribute blame as it is not an investigation agency
GENEVA: The World Health Organization voiced alarm Tuesday at reports that more than 70 health workers and around 5,000 civilians were being detained in Nyala in southwestern Sudan.
Since April 2023, Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a brutal conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 12 million more and devastated infrastructure.
“We are concerned by reports from Nyala, the capital of Sudan’s South Darfur state, that more than 70 health care workers are being forcibly detained along with about 5,000 civilians,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
“According to the Sudan Doctors Network, the detainees are being held in cramped and unhealthy conditions, and there are reports of disease outbreaks,” the UN health agency chief said.
The RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction allied earlier this year, forming a coalition based in Nyala.
“WHO is gathering more information on the detentions and conditions of those being held. The situation is complicated by the ongoing insecurity,” said Tedros.
“The reported detentions of health workers and thousands more people is deeply concerning. Health workers and civilians should be protected at all times and we call for their safe and unconditional release.”
The WHO counts and verifies attacks on health care, though it does not attribute blame as it is not an investigation agency.
In total, the WHO has recorded 65 attacks on health care in Sudan this year, resulting in 1,620 deaths and 276 injuries. Of those attacks, 54 impacted personnel, 46 impacted facilities and 33 impacted patients.
Earlier Tuesday, UN rights chief Volker Turk said he was “alarmed by the further intensification in hostilities” in the Kordofan region in southern Sudan.
“I urge all parties to the conflict and states with influence to ensure an immediate ceasefire and to prevent atrocities,” he said.
“Medical facilities and personnel have specific protection against attack under international humanitarian law,” Turk added.
