Turkish aid shipment released from Israeli port after being blocked

A Turkish shipment of humanitarian aid stuck at Israel’s Ashdod port left for Gaza earlier this week, diplomatic sources and a UN spokesperson told Middle East Eye on Tuesday.

The shipment, donated to Unrwa, was blocked for nearly a month after some Israeli contractors stopped working with the UN agency following unproved allegations that 13 staff members participated in the 7 October attack. 

It contains 1,049 containers of supplies including flour, chickpeas, sugar and cooking oil, enough to cover the needs of 1.1 million people for a month.

Turkey agreed with Israeli authorities to end the stalemate by allowing the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) to deliver the shipment to war-torn Gaza in collaboration with Unrwa.

“What we can say for now is that the first batch of the wheat flour that has been stuck in the Israeli port for weeks on end has now reached Gaza,” an Unrwa spokesperson said. “We are working with WFP on releasing the rest.”

An Israeli source suggested that the shipments would continue as much as the aid organisation could deliver to Gaza.