Medical supplies and ambulances were loaded onto the dry cargo ship that anchored at Izmir Alsancak Port the previous night. After the loading, the ship left the port to go to El-Arish Port, Egypt.
Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca announced on his social media account that the largest health aid so far set out for Gaza. Minister Koca made the following statement in his post:
“Our close cooperation with the Egyptian Minister of Health and authorities continues intensively in order to alleviate the suffering of our sick and injured brothers in Gaza.
As it is known, 8 cargo planes carrying medicines, medical supplies, medical devices and generators had previously arrived at Egypt's El Arish Airport. As of today, as a result of the intense efforts of the Egyptian Minister of Health, Mr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, the necessary permissions have been obtained for the shipment of a total of 51 containers of medical supplies and generators and 20 fully equipped ambulances that we will send from Türkiye, and the ship loaded set out from Izmir's Alsancak Port.
Coordinated by the Presidency of Türkiye, the ship is expected to arrive at Al-Arish Port on Saturday.
The aid to be sent includes a fully equipped heavy-climate type field hospital with operating rooms and intensive care units, resistant to all climatic conditions, and fully equipped inflatable type field hospitals, as well as medicines and medical consumables to be used in these hospitals. The aid further includes 20 fully equipped ambulances and medical rescue vehicles and generators to provide energy support to health facilities. It is planned to deploy the field hospitals and ambulances in Gaza, if possible, or to the points closest to the Egypt-Gaza border.
Our aid sent by ship today weighs approximately 500 tons and exceeds 3 times the weight of the previous ones. Our aid will continue to increase.
Let us pray that all roads be open for Gaza.”