The Lady Leyla, a Turkish ship loaded with over 10,000 tons of supplies including food and toys, left Turkey for Gaza on Friday. The cargo will be cleared by Israeli authorities, and then will be transferred to Gaza through Israel by land.
Following the reconciliation agreement signed last week between Israel and Turkey, a cargo ship carrying aid for Gaza from Turkey docked at Ashdod port in southern Israel on Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Leyla, a Panama-flagged ship loaded with over 10,000 tons of supplies including food and toys, left Turkey for Gaza on Friday.
The cargo will be cleared by Israeli authorities, and then will be transferred to Gaza by land.
The ship is supposed to be the first of several Turkish ships carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza, as stipulated by the Israeli-Turkish agreement.
After a six-year rift and following months of negotiations, Israel and Turkey on Tuesday officially signed a reconciliation deal in an effort to rebuild ties.
Under the deal, Israel and Turkey will restore full diplomatic relations, with ambassadors expected to return within several weeks.
Israel will pay $20 million in compensation for the families of people harmed in the in the Mavi Marmara incident, and it will allow Turkey to deliver aid to Gaza through an Israeli port and to carry out a series of development projects in Gaza, particularly in water and electricity. Israel has already enabled this, regardless of the new agreement.
Netanyahu said it is a “clear” Israeli interest to help resolve Gaza’s water and electricity woes.
In return, Turkey agreed to prevent legal claims against Israel over the raid, and to prevent any terrorism activity or fundraising in Turkey. Hamas has a headquarters in Turkey. Turkey maintains close ties with Hamas, an Islamic terror group that is sworn to Israel’s destruction and is labeled a terrorist organization by Israel and the West.
By: Max Gelber, United with Israel