Turkish health minister says to receive 26 patients from Gaza

ANKARA, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-six patients and their 13 companions from Gaza are to be brought to Türkiye for treatment late Wednesday, said Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

These patients, transferred outside war-torn Gaza through the Rafah crossing, will be the first Gazans to travel from Egypt to another country for treatment, Koca told reporters in Egypt.

They are expected to arrive at Türkiye's Ankara Etlik City Hospital on early Thursday, media sources told Xinhua.

The minister added that Türkiye also seeks to "establish a field hospital in Gaza in the area close to the Rafah crossing soon."

Last week, Koca held phone calls with his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts for the transfer of patients in the Palestinian enclave through the Rafah crossing.

Türkiye has delivered relief aid, including medicines, medical equipment, and ambulances to Gaza.

Israel has been carrying out an all-out attack on Gaza over the past weeks and has imposed a siege on the enclave to retaliate against the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, plunging the strip into a dire humanitarian catastrophe with its health system heavily overwhelmed.

The conflict has so far led to the deaths of over 11,500 Palestinians in Gaza. On the Israeli side, about 1,200 people lost their lives, the majority of whom were killed in the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7.