Israeli airline brings 2.5 tons of humanitarian aid to Türkiye

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli airline company provided 2.5 tons of humanitarian aid to Türkiye on its first scheduled flight after a 15-year hiatus.

A plane belonging to the Israeli airline company Israir with 165 passengers took off Thursday from the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv to Istanbul.

The ceremony took place at the airport and was attended by Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev, Türkiye’s Ambassador to Tel Aviv Sakir Ozkan Torunlar and Israeli grocery chain owner Rami Levy.

In his speech, Regev expressed her condolences to the earthquake victims.

Ambassador Torunlar also thanked the Israeli government and people for their contributions to the search and rescue efforts in the earthquake area.

Within the scope of the agreement signed between Israel and Türkiye, the national airline El-Al will also start its commercial flights at the end of March.

According to the Tel Aviv Embassy of Türkiye, 2.5 tons of humanitarian aid materials consist of sleeping bags, blankets and winter outerwear.

Moreover, the Israel International Development Cooperation Agency (MASHAV) delivered 56 tons of aid materials sent by the Israeli government to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) in Adana.

Nadav Markman, Israel's deputy ambassador to Ankara, also shared on his social media account that 44 planes from Israel carried more than 200 tons of aid materials and Israeli search and rescue and medical teams to the south of Türkiye.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report.