Israel is only allowing a quarter of the required amount of emergency humanitarian aid into the Strip Gaza. This was said by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking in New York at a round table for representatives of American think tanks, which was held at the Turkish House.
„There is a gigantic humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip. There is virtually no access to clean water sources. The prevalence of hepatitis, polio and dysentery reached alarming levels. Only a quarter of the aid that the people of Gaza desperately need has been authorized. They [the Israeli side] are trying to destroy the residents of Gaza not only with bombs, but also with hunger, lack of medicine and thirst,”, Anadolu Agency quoted Erdogan as saying.
He reported that "1.9 million people in Gaza have been forced from their homes, 70% of the water resources and 75% of the bakeries in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed." "95% of medical centers are partially or completely destroyed. 150 thousand houses were destroyed, 200 thousand houses were partially destroyed, 80 thousand houses became uninhabitable. Two-thirds of the 41,000 dead in Gaza are women and children, Erdogan added.
He also pointed out that “the government of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is trying by all means to spread the war in the region”. Such a prospect, according to him, “must be prevented in advance”. In this context, “it is extremely important for the international community to increase the pressure on Israel”, the Turkish president emphasized.
Erdogan is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. Most of his speech is expected to be devoted to the conflict in the Gaza Strip and the need for an urgent resolution.