Turkish ships carrying field hospitals for Gaza permitted to enter Egyptian ports

Ankara, The Gulf Observer: Two Turkish ships, loaded with field hospitals and ambulances for injured people in Gaza, have been permitted to enter Egyptian ports, Türkiye’s health minister said.

The ships are currently in Turkish territorial waters and can be deployed at any time for the shipment of field hospitals and ambulances that Türkiye wants to send to Egypt to be used to treat injured people in the Palestinian enclave, Fahrettin Koca said on X on Sunday.

Koca said he had a meeting with Egyptian Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar late on Saturday on Gazans who cannot access health care services due to Israeli attacks. He said that during the meeting, they reached an agreement on many important issues.

“We are continuing our efforts to bring over 1,000 patients and wounded individuals in urgent need of treatment, including cancer patients receiving treatment at the Türkiye-Palestine Friendship Hospital in Gaza, which had to cease its operations amid the recent conflict via the Rafah border crossing to Egypt,” Koca said.

“Following this, we plan to transfer cancer patients and those in urgent condition to our country via ambulance planes and a ship hospital,” he added.

The Türkiye-Palestine Friendship Hospital was recently forced to close its doors as it had no electricity due to the 30-day Israeli blockade on Gaza.

The residents of Gaza are suffering from a catastrophic humanitarian and health situation. Israel still bars fuel entry into Gaza, leaving many hospitals out of service.

According to the UN and Red Cross, an insufficient amount of humanitarian aid is being allowed to Gaza, which has been under a total blockade for 30 days.

Over 9,700 Palestinians, including 4,800 children and 2,055 women, have been killed in Israeli bombardments since October 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.