Turkey and Egypt have agreed for some 1,000 cancer patients and other injured civilians needing urgent care in Gaza to be sent to Turkey for treatment, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Sunday, adding work was underway to plan the move.
Koca said on Thursday that Ankara was prepared to bring in cancer patients from the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship hospital in Gaza, the enclave's only cancer treatment hospital, which went out of service after running out of fuel this week.
On Sunday, Koca said he held a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart on Saturday to discuss the matter.
"Our efforts continue for almost 1,000 patients, especially cancer patients who were being treated at the Turkey-Palestine Friendship hospital in Gaza that had to stop its operations, and wounded persons we were previously notified about and who are in need of urgent care, to be brought to Egypt through the Rafah border crossing," Koca said on social media platform X.
"After that, it is being planned for the cancer patients and those in emergency conditions to be transferred to our country via ambulance planes and hospital ships," he said.
On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates said it planned to treat 1,000 Palestinian children from Gaza, without saying how they would leave the enclave for the Gulf state.
Turkey has sent more than 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid and a team of medical personnel to Egypt for Gazans, while also offering to set up a field hospital near the Rafah border crossing. It has strongly condemned Israeli attacks on Gaza and called for a ceasefire.
Israel has tightened its blockade and bombarded Gaza for nearly four weeks in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attack by Islamist group Hamas that Israeli authorities say killed 1,400.
Koca also said Egypt had granted permission for two Turkish vessels currently on hold in Turkey and carrying ambulances and materials for a field hospital for Gazans to approach its docks.
