Aid supplies are entering the Gaza Strip from a country that has openly voiced support for Israel’s enemies—Turkey.
Israel Hayom has obtained eyewitness accounts from the Port of Ashdod showing cargo arriving from Turkey being unloaded and loaded onto trucks bound for Gaza. Witnesses on the scene confirmed that the shipments include dozens of tons of goods. Boxes clearly bear Turkish labels, including the words “sunflower oil” in Turkish and branding from a well-known Turkish company.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, referring to Israel’s campaign in Gaza, told members of his ruling AK Party in parliament on June 18 that “Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has long left Hitler behind in terms of genocide.”
The Turkish leader also said Israel’s campaign against Iran was illegal and “crazed.”
“It is a very natural, legitimate and legal right for Iran to defend itself against Israel’s thuggery and state terrorism,” Erdoğan added. “We are closely monitoring Israel’s terrorist attacks on Iran.”
The Turkish government has long harbored Hamas leaders. In 2022, the Palestinian terrorist group marked the 10th anniversary of the official establishment of its offices in Istanbul.
According to a 2021 report by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, Hamas’s headquarters in Istanbul has directed hundreds of terrorist attacks against Israelis and laundered millions of dollars.
“Turkey collaborates with terror organizations on both the ideological and operational levels. Terrorists working on Turkish soil establish infrastructures and plan terror attacks against Israel,” the report stated.
In April 2024, Ankara invited Ismail Haniyeh, then the head of Hamas’s political bureau in Qatar, to stay in the country, praising the top terrorist as a “leader of the Palestinian struggle.”
Israel killed Haniyeh in a targeted operation in Tehran in July 2024.
Originally published by Israel Hayom.