Turkey to provide $1 million in aid to embattled Gaza

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) will provide $1 million in emergency aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip during the month of Ramadan, according to TIKA officials.

Bülent Korkmaz, TIKA's Palestine program coordinator, told Anadolu Agency on Friday that recent Israeli atrocities against unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza had prompted outrage in Turkey, leading Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to order an immediate aid disbursement.

The aid will include the distribution of food packages throughout Ramadan to 12,000 Gazan families and hot fast-breaking (iftar) meals to 1,000 families each day, Korkmaz said.

He added that the aid would also include the provision of medicine and medical equipment worth $200,000 to hospitals in Gaza.

According to Palestine's official statistics agency, the poverty rate in Gaza reached 53 percent in 2017, with at least 250,000 people -- of the strip's roughly two-million-strong population -- facing unemployment.

An ongoing Israeli blockade, imposed since 2006, is believed to be the primary reason for the economic stagnation.

Ramadan this year comes amid heightened tensions in the Palestinian territories.

On Monday, scores of Palestinian demonstrators were martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli troops near the fence separating the Gaza Strip from Israel.