An official delegation from Turkey arrived in the Gaza Strip on Monday to partake in an official ceremony to welcome Turkish humanitarian aid to Gaza, which arrived a day earlier on board a Turkish ship.
The ceremony, held at the Kerem Shalom crossing, included the Turkish delegation, headed by ambassador to the Palestinian Authority Mustafa Sarni, as well as Palestinian officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Social Development.
Ministry of Social Development in Gaza Undersecretary Yousif Ibrahim said that the 11,000 tons of aid -- which include flour, sugar, rice, cooking oil, clothes, toys and diapers -- would immediately be distributed to the needy in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Israeli demonstrators on Saturday reportedly attempted to block the delivery of aid to the besieged Gaza Strip from the Turkish cargo ship Lady Leyla, which docked at Israel’s Ashdod port earlier that morning.
According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the families of Israeli soldiers whose slain bodies are being held by Hamas or who are believed to be missing inside the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, staged a protest at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the blockaded territory, aiming to prevent the aid from passing through.
Turkey’s humanitarian aid delivery followed an agreement made with Israel on Sunday to normalize diplomatic relations between the two nations, ending a six-year standoff sparked by the 2010 Israeli attack on a Turkish aid ship attempting to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip which resulted in the death of ten Turkish activists.
While Turkey notably conceded on its demand that Israel lift its near decade-long blockade on the Gaza Strip, Israel did agree to allow Turkey to deliver aid, with the stipulation that deliveries pass through the Ashdod port, to then continue to Gaza through land crossings.
