GAZA CITY
Turkey's ambassador to the Palestinian Authority Mustafa Sarnic paid a visit on Wednesday to the Nassr Pediatric Hospital in the Gaza Strip.
Sarnic, who entered the strip via the Erez border crossing with Israel, inspected the hospital's incubators section and Intensive Care Unit.
He also listened to the hospital director regarding the hospital's requirements, which include fuel needed to operate the hospital's generators.
Gaza, which faces grave difficulties obtaining the fuel necessary to operate its power stations, continues to suffer repeated electricity outages.
Sarnic, on his second visit to the Gaza Strip since being posted to the West Bank, described the Palestinian coastal enclave as an "important" place for the people of Turkey.
He told Anadolu Agency that offering help to the people of Gaza served to raise the morale of the Turkish public.
The hospital, he said, also faced serious challenges securing needed medical equipment and medicine for child patients.
He went on to vow that the Turkish government - in cooperation with the UN children's fund (UNICEF) - would exert efforts to meet the hospital's needs as soon as possible.
According to Sarnic, Turkey had earlier managed to secure $1 million worth of fuel for Gaza's struggling hospitals.
By Mustafa Haboosh
englishnews@aa.com.tr
