Israel, Palestinians Offer To Send Aid To Quake-stricken Turkiye, Syria

Jerusalem, Feb 7 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Feb, 2023 ) :Israel and the Palestinian Authority have announced that they will send medical and rescue assistance to Turkiye following Monday's deadly earthquake.

The 7.8 magnitude quake struck near the Turkish city of Gaziantep before dawn, killing more than 2,300 people in Turkey and more than 1,400 in neighbouring Syria.

"At the request of the Turkish government, I have instructed all authorities to make immediate preparations to provide medical, and search and rescue assistance," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

"The foreign and defence ministers have already been in contact with their counterparts and we will -- in the coming hours -- agree on the dispatching of a delegation as soon as possible," Netanyahu said, while offering condolences to the Turkish people.

A statement from Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu had told him that Turkey would "welcome the Israeli aid".

A joint delegation of some 150 people from Israel's foreign and defence ministries as well as the military were set to travel to Turkey on Monday evening, an Israeli army statement said.

Israel and Turkiye have revived relations in recent months, following a years-long rupture.

Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh meanwhile instructed civil defence and medical teams "to participate in the search and rescue work" in Turkiye and Syria, a statement from his office said.

Palestinian foreign ministry official Ahmed al-Deek told AFP the delegation would be made up of 64 people.

Israel's Netanyahu has also said he approved a "diplomatic" request to send aid to Syria, but a Damascus official swiftly denied they had requested help in the first place.

"How can Syria ask for help from an entity that has killed... Syrians for decades?" the official said.

Syria's government does not recognise Israel and the two countries have fought several wars since Israel's creation in 1948.