Türkiye to evacuate more patients from Gaza including 'babies and children'

Türkiye has said that it prepared a list of 50 patients, mostly children, to evacuate from the besieged Gaza, where relentless Israeli attacks have taken place for 46 days.

After Türkiye received two groups of a total of 88 patients from the besieged Palestinian enclave in the past weeks, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Tuesday a third evacuation could happen in the coming days.

"The third evacuation may be carried out in the coming days," Koca told Turkish lawmakers at parliament in the capital Ankara, adding that the country's priority was "babies, children, and the injured."

"We are currently working on a list of 50 people, mainly children. I think this will be finalised in the coming days," he added

Koca said a coordination team with Israel, Egypt, and Türkiye was working on the third evacuation group, including on how much of Ankara's 50-person list can be brought through.

Noting that, along with the 88 patients, Türkiye had received a total of 150 people Gaza including 62 companions, he said six patients were receiving intensive care.

When asked about the evacuation of premature babies from Gaza, he said they were planning to first evacuate babies under 12 months old and toddlers and children up to 4 years old.

Aiming to evacuate 100 more Turkish and Turkish Cypriot citizens

As Türkiye has evacuated 170 of its citizens and their relatives from Gaza so far, the country expects around 100 more people to evacuate through the Rafah Border Crossing to Egypt amid Israeli attacks on Tuesday, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.

The ministry personnel arrived at the Rafah Border Crossing on Tuesday morning, said the sources, adding that if conditions permit, the ministry aims to evacuate approximately 100 more people.

Turkish and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) citizens, who were evacuated from Gaza on Monday along with their family members, are expected to arrive in Istanbul later on Tuesday via a scheduled Turkish Airlines flight, according to the sources.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Since Israel started bombing Gaza after a surprise October 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, at least 13,000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 9,000 women and children, and more than 30,000 others have been injured, according to the latest figures by Palestinian authorities.

Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques, and churches, have also been damaged or destroyed in Israel’s relentless air and ground attacks on the besieged enclave.

An Israeli blockade has also cut Gaza off from fuel, electricity, and water supplies and reduced aid deliveries to a small trickle.

The Israeli death toll is around 1,200 according to official figures.