Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib thanked Turkiye yesterday for the medical aid that it has sent to Beirut, Anadolu has reported. Bou Habib met his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan at the Turkish House in New York State where, according to diplomatic sources in the Turkish foreign ministry, the Lebanese minister briefed Fidan about the current situation in Lebanon.
Fidan stressed that the Israeli attacks on Lebanon are unacceptable, and claimed that the occupation state wants to drag the region into chaos. He reiterated his assertion that Turkiye will continue to stand by Lebanon, stressing the need for the international community to act jointly.
On Wednesday morning, a Turkish aircraft arrived in Lebanon carrying medical aid and supplies to support the Lebanese health sector amid ongoing Israeli attacks that have already killed hundreds of people, most of them civilians, and wounded thousands more. At least 3,000 people in Lebanon were wounded by exploding pagers and other communication devices last week.
“The Turkish medical aid aircraft sends a message of solidarity with our people in the face of Israel’s brutal assault,” Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad told Anadolu.
The Israeli army has launched waves of deadly air strikes in Lebanon since Monday morning, killing nearly 570 people and injuring over 1,800 others, according to Lebanese health authorities.
Lebanese militia Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border exchanges of fire since the start of the Israeli war against the Palestinians in Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border incursion by Hamas last October.
The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, raising the spectre of spreading the Gaza genocide region-wide.
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