Gaza receives first Turkish aid shipment after rapprochement

Turkish aid shipments arrived in the Gaza Strip via Israel on Monday, a week after Israel and Turkey announced they would end a six-year rupture and normalize ties.
About 11,000 tons of cargo, including clothing, toys and medicines destined for the Palestinian coastal territory, were ferried to the Israeli port of Ashdod by a Turkish ship that docked on Sunday.
Under the supervision of the Turkish Red Crescent Society, the first of about 500 trucks carrying the aid entered the Gaza Strip, territory controlled by Hamas, through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing.
“This is the first (aid) ship after the Turkish and the Israeli governments’ agreement,” said Kerem Kinik, president of the Turkish Red Crescent, who traveled to Gaza to supervise the distribution of the goods. He said Turkey would provide “continuous, regular humanitarian assistance” for the territory. Last week, some 3,400 trucks carrying 107,500 tons of goods, including medical supplies, electronic devices, consumer goods and construction material, entered the Gaza Strip via Israel, according to Israeli authorities.

Source: Arab News