Enes Canlı
12 February 2024•Update: 12 February 2024
JERUSALEM
As Israel continues relentless attacks on Gaza by land, air, and sea, the Turkish state development aid agency distributed food packages to those in need in the northern and central regions of the besieged strip.
According to The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), the agency’s Gaza Office continues its aid efforts in the northern and central areas of the Palestinian territory, where humanitarian aid delivery is restricted due to Israeli attacks and the population suffering a lack of basic needs.
In this context, TIKA distributed 1,000 food packages in the northern and central regions of Gaza.
Previously, humanitarian aid reaching the Gaza Strip, which used to receive an average of 600 trucks per day, had been restricted following the commencement of the Israeli army's ground invasion.
The UN and international aid organizations warn that a significant portion of the 500,000 Palestinian civilians who have not left the northern and central regions of the Gaza Strip are living under extremely dire conditions without shelter and access to basic humanitarian needs.
During Israel's ongoing attacks over the past four months, TIKA has provided Palestinians in Gaza with medical supplies, food packages, shelter materials, and winter clothing.
The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
In late 2023 South Africa filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The UN court, in its interim ruling in January, ruled that South Africa’s claims are plausible. It ordered provisional measures for Israel’s government to desist from genocidal acts, and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
*Writing by Seda Sevencan
