MERSIN, Türkiye 

Türkiye has loaded a ship with over 2,300 tons of humanitarian aid for Palestine and is ready to sail to Egypt to distribute the supplies to the people of the Gaza Strip, the country’s disaster management authority said on Wednesday.​​​​​​​ 

The fleet of 109 trucks carrying 2,334 tons of humanitarian aid has been loaded onto the ship "Bestekar," which is anchored in the Mersin International Port on the north-eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea in southern Türkiye.

The aid was prepared with the help of 29 non-governmental organizations and coordinated by the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), and Mersin Governorship.

"We will send 2,334 tons of humanitarian aid materials, including flour, pasta, water, tomato paste, sugar, tents, blankets, and hygiene materials. Palestine is our brother country. We are always standing by them,” Cenk Yildiz, the head of AFAD’s Mersin province, told Anadolu.

The ship will dock at Egypt's Al-Arish Port before delivering aid to Palestine.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 22,313 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 57,296 others, according to Gaza’s health authorities.

Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7.

Due to the Israeli onslaught, most of the enclave’s population of more than 2.2 million remains under siege and bombardment, displaced, and short of food and basic necessities.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar