2 Turkish ships carrying field hospitals, ambulances for Gazans greenlighted to enter Egyptian ports

ANKARA

Two Turkish ships, loaded with field hospitals and ambulances for injured people in the Gaza Strip, have been given permission to enter Egyptian ports, the health minister said on Sunday.

The ships are currently in Turkish territorial waters and can be deployed at any time for the shipment of field hospitals and ambulances that Türkiye wants to send to Egypt to be used to treat injured Gazans, Fahrettin Koca said on X.

Koca said he had a meeting with Egyptian Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar late on Saturday on Gazans who cannot access health care services due to Israeli attacks.

Koca said that during the meeting, they reached an agreement on many important issues.

“We are continuing our efforts to bring over 1,000 patients and wounded individuals in urgent need of treatment, including cancer patients receiving treatment at the Türkiye-Palestine Friendship Hospital in Gaza, which had to cease its operations amid the recent conflict, via the Rafah border crossing to Egypt,” Koca said.

“Following this, we plan to transfer cancer patients and those in urgent condition to our country via ambulance planes and a ship hospital,” he added.

The Türkiye-Palestine Friendship Hospital was recently forced to close its doors as it had no electricity due to the 30-day Israeli blockade on Gaza.

• Field hospitals