Turkey Set To Help Provide Electricity For Gaza: Diplomat

Turkey is currently holding contacts with various parties to send a Turkish floating power-generating ship to the Gaza Strip to help solve the electricity crisis in the embattled Palestinian enclave, Turkish Consul-General in Jerusalem Mustafa Sarnic said Tuesday.



"Gaza's electricity network has badly damaged [during the recent Israeli war], and we are ready to offer help in this regard," Sarnic told reporters in his residence in East Jerusalem.



"Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz suggested to send a floating power-generating ship to Gaza to provide the enclave with electricity for a definite period until the crisis is over," he added.



The diplomat pointed out that a Palestinian delegation visited Turkey last week for talks towards that end. "If an agreement is reached, the ship would provide 80-100 megawatts for Gaza," he noted.



He also said that Turkey is set to send 1,000 mobile homes worth $5 million to give shelter to those who had their houses destroyed during the Israeli war.



"The Turkish government and people immediately stood by the Palestinian people [during the Israeli war] and we offered our utmost support, and we would provide more assistance," the Turkish diplomat said.



Israel's just-ended 51-day offensive against the Gaza Strip left some 2,147 Gazans dead and 11,000 injured – the vast majority of them civilians – while partially or completely destroying thousands of residential structures across the territory.



The offensive, initially launched with the stated aim of ending rocket fire from Gaza, finally ended with the announcement on August 26 of an open-ended cease-fire.



According to Israeli figures, 67 Israeli soldiers and five civilians were killed over the course of the operation – the highest military death toll suffered by the self-proclaimed Jewish state since it lost 119 troops in its 2006 war on Lebanon.



By Abdel-Raouf Arnaout



englishnews@aa.com.tr



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