Turkey says awaiting Egypt's approval to set up field hospitals near Gaza

ISTANBUL: Turkey is waiting for approval from Egyptian authorities to set up field hospitals near Gaza for those fleeing the Palestinian territory, the health minister said on Wednesday.

“We have made all preparations to establish 20 field hospitals at El Arish Airport, in the area close to the Rafah border gate” in Egypt, Fahrettin Koca said on X, formerly Twitter.

“We are in close dialogue with the Egyptian and Palestinian health ministries on all these issues. We are waiting for security to be ensured and permissions to be granted,” he said.

Israel has heavily bombarded Gaza since Hamas fighters stormed across the border on October 7. The health ministry in the Gaza Strip said the strikes have killed more than 8,500 people, including 3,542 children.

The first ambulances carrying wounded Palestinians from Gaza have entered Egypt where they were dispatched to various hospitals for treatment.

A vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, Turkey has criticised Israel for its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Turkish authorities have so far sent planes loaded with medicine and other aid to Egypt’s El Arish Airport for delivery to Gaza.

The health minister said Turkey was planning to send a floating hospital to Gaza.

A day earlier, at least 50 people were killed and scores wounded after an Israeli air attack hit apartment blocks in a residential area of Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

In a statement, Gaza’s interior ministry said an Israeli air attack hit apartment blocks in a residential area of Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, killing and wounding dozens.

The director of a nearby Indonesian Hospital says at least 50 people were killed.

Israeli troops push deeper into Gaza, with witnesses reporting heavy clashes after tanks reached a residential area, Al-Jazeera reported.

Bombardments were reported across the besieged territory as Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected calls for a ceasefire.

Meanwhile, the United Nations said that the terroritry has become a graveyard for thousands of children as it feared the prospect of more dying of dehydration.

The UN children’s agency Unicef said there was a risk that the number of child deaths directly from bombardment could become eclipsed.

“Our gravest fears about the reported numbers of children killed becoming dozens, then hundreds, and ultimately thousands were realised in just a fortnight,” Unicef spokesman James Elder said in a statement.

“The numbers are appalling; reportedly more than 3,450 children killed; staggeringly this rises significantly every day.”

“Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children. It’s a living hell for everyone else.” He said the more than one million children living in the Gaza Strip were also suffering from a lack of clean water.