ANKARA
As the Gaza Strip has suffered from years of Israeli attacks and blockades, Türkiye has sent a total of 101,271 tons of emergency humanitarian aid materials to Gaza, Türkiye’s Communications Directorate announced in a Tuesday post on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.
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It said that under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Türkiye has been the voice of Gaza on all international platforms, making urgent calls to the world.
It also noted Türkiye’s intense efforts to send aid to Gaza, which has been under blockade for many years, and to stand by the innocent people of Gaza, who have been left to face death by hunger and famine under Israeli attacks.
In response to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s attacks on Gaza, Türkiye immediately mobilized via its Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry, Health Ministry, Disaster and Emergency Management Agency, Turkish Red Crescent, and various NGOs, maintaining uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.
Türkiye has sent aid via 16 ships and 14 aircraft, including 281,238 personal care kits, 550 tons of hygienic supplies, 1,451 generators, forklifts, three mobile kitchens, 351 temporary shelter containers, 25,180 tents, 113,608 blankets, 19,798 sleeping bags, 151,455 shelter items, 25,729 tons of food, 65,273 tons of flour, 3,171 tons of drinking water, 469,486 pieces of clothing, and 1,083 toy sets.
Türkiye has also established eight field hospitals, sent 53 ambulances and 247.5 tons of medical supplies, and carried out the evacuation of 430 patients and 450 accompanying individuals from Gaza to Türkiye via nine aircraft.
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In addition, Türkiye has provided $7.5 million in financial assistance to Gaza through the Turkish Red Crescent and Disaster and Emergency Management Agency.
Turkish non-governmental organizations are working relentlessly to ease the food crisis in Gaza, ongoing for 683 days amid Israel’s attacks, by sending regular supplies of meals, water and essentials.
Foundations and associations have dispatched food, clothing, shelter materials, hygiene kits, medicine, medical equipment and baby products to alleviate the humanitarian fallout.
Their primary focus remains tackling the escalating food shortage through sustained efforts.
Anadolu Agency compiled details of these initiatives, highlighting key contributions from leading NGOs.
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Turkish Red Crescent leads with ‘Kindness Ships‘
The Turkish Red Crescent has spearheaded five “Kindness Ship” missions, sending 869 truckloads—or 15,089 tons—of aid, mainly food, hygiene products and shelter items, across 10 ships.It delivered 52,164 800-gram cans of diced meat from Eid al-Adha donations to Gaza via the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), arriving Jan. 27-28.
An additional 261 tons of canned meat on Türkiye’s 15th aid ship, coordinated by AFAD, awaits entry into Gaza.
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The Red Crescent’s soup kitchens in northern and southern Gaza produce up to 15,000 meals daily, distributing 6.83 million hot meals so far. As of Aug. 17, capacity has expanded to 21,000 meals per day in partnership with the Palestine Red Crescent Society and locals.
Locally sourced supplies like food packages, hygiene kits and blankets have totaled 400 tons for Gaza residents.Water distribution via tankers began Nov. 29, 2024, providing 20 liters per family and 20 tons daily, with 1.66 million liters delivered to date—set to resume when conditions allow.
Of 5,000 food parcels procured through Jordan, 2,500 reached Gaza on Feb. 27; efforts continue for the remaining half.Due to entry restrictions, 165 of 405 aid trucks unloaded at the Egyptian Red Crescent warehouse entered Gaza by Aug. 3, with sorting ongoing.
Deniz Feneri provides daily hot meals and water
The Deniz Feneri Association serves hot meals to 15,000 people daily via 10 soup kitchens in northern, southern and central Gaza, distributed to camps and families by volunteers and staff.
Addressing water scarcity amid destroyed infrastructure, it supplies 15 tons of clean drinking water daily and operates two wells.The association also delivers three daily meals to patients and caregivers at Al-Wafa Hospital.
IHH distributes over 35 million hot meals
The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has provided 35.19 million hot meals, 127.63 million loaves of bread and 1.2 million assorted food items like canned goods, pasta, ready-to-eat meals and juice.It distributed 206,521 food parcels, 129,789 sacks of flour and 17,848 vegetable packages, plus 2,567 tankers of drinking water and meat parcels.
The Cansuyu Association has dispatched 102 trucks of essentials, including food parcels, flour, rice, oil and legumes.It delivered 3,000 food parcels, 285,000 bread packages, 750 vegetable parcels, 500 cooking gas cylinders, 349,300 hot meals and 1,806 tankers of drinking water.In northern Gaza, it distributed five tankers of clean water and meals for 500 people via partners; hot meals continue in the south.
To date, 1,273 tons of food have been sent from outside Gaza, with 20 trucks of emergency aid waiting at borders.
The Istanbul-based Federation of Humanitarian Associations (IDDEF) has provided 4 million hot meals, 200,000 food, fruit-vegetable and hygiene parcels, 350,000 bread packages and 320 tons of flour.
From Egypt and Jordan warehouses, it sent 204 trucks of aid and contributed eight trucks to three AFAD-organized ships.IDDEF dispatched 300,000 portions of canned meat to Gaza, with 264,600 more 800-gram cans ready in Jordan.
It currently distributes 3,000 hot meals and 50,000 loaves daily, plus 25,000 liters of clean water via two tankers from local treatment facilities.
Doctors Worldwide has aided over 43,000 families and 900,000 people with health care, food and hygiene support.Teams at Al-Shifa, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals offer vaccinations and formula for children and pregnant women at a UNICEF-partnered health station in a northern camp.
The association supported over 280 health workers’ salaries and delivered medical supplies, food, hygiene aid and canned meat to 155,000 via Egypt and Jordan.
The Sadakataşı Association has reached about 2 million with health, food, shelter and emergency aid. It sheltered 1,000 families in two tent cities and 400 students in two tent schools.Distributions included food parcels for 22,000 families, flour for 4,000, bread for 110,000, 475 tankers of water and two truckloads of drinking water.
Hot meals reached 1.2 million, hospitals got seven tons of fuel, and aid like clothing, blankets, tents and meat continued.Within the Türkiye-Palestine Humanitarian Aid Operation, 16 shipments have been carried out from Mersin Port to Egypt’s El Arish Port under AFAD’s coordination since Oct. 7, 2023.
