Turkish NGO distributes wheelchairs to Palestinians

Palestinians who have been wounded during Israeli attacks, compete during the wheelchair marathon organised by Al-Selame association, in Gaza City, Gaza on 29 November, 2016 [Mustafa Hassona / Anadolu Agency]

Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) on Thursday distributed 90 wheelchairs to Palestinians injured during the ‘Great March of Return’ demonstrations in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.

Mahmoud al-Shurafa, the IHH’s spokesman in Gaza, told Anadolu Agency that the aid project was carried out to alleviate grievances of the Gazans struggling under difficult conditions.

The cost of the aid project is €18,000 ($20,600), al-Shurafa added.

READ: Turkey’s Red Crescent sends 8.5 tons of medicine to Gaza

Since the rallies began on March 30, scores of Palestinians have been martyred and thousands injured by Israeli troops deployed along the other side of the buffer zone.

Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its more than 2 million inhabitants of many basic commodities.

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