Turkish aid agency entertains Gazan children

GAZA CITY 

Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) on Monday held a party for 300 Palestinian children whose homes were destroyed by Israel's recent seven-week onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

"The party aims to entertain children traumatized by Israel's bombing of the [Gaza Strip's] eastern Shujaya neighborhood," IHH public relations director Mahmoud al-Shurfa told Anadolu Agency.

He said the aid agency was planning to hold a series of entertainment activities with the aim of relieving children affected by the recent conflict.

"The IHH has trained 40 volunteers and sent them to various schools to help ease the psychological suffering caused by the war," said al-Shurfa.

Israel's 51-day offensive, which ended on August 26, left more than 2,150 Gazans dead and 11,000 injured while partially or completely destroying thousands of residential units across the embattled territory.

Over the course of the conflict, at least 72 Israelis – 67 soldiers and five civilians – were also killed.

Israel's offensive, launched with the aim of halting rocket fire from Gaza, ended late last month with an indefinite cease-fire celebrated by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas as a strategic victory.

By Mustafa Haboosh

www.aa.com.tr/en