Turkey has sent 81 disaster relief experts to the Gaza Strip, some of whom will help with finding the remains of 19 hostages still unaccounted for, a defence ministry source said Thursday.
“There is already a team of 81 AFAD staff there,” the source said, referring to Turkey’s disaster relief agency, indicating that “one team will be in charge of seeking and finding the bodies”.
Turkey’s Disaster Management Authority (AFAD) is a government agency that operates under the interior ministry.
“The tasks are known: transmitting humanitarian aid, finding corpses and protecting the ceasefire. But there is no clear information on how to handle these tasks,” the ministry source said.
Asked whether Turkish military forces could get involved, the source said it would be “more the task of civilian entities like AFAD” but in theory the military could help out if needed.
AFAD rescue workers are accustomed to operating in difficult terrain and have responded to numerous earthquakes that have shaken Turkey, including the one in February 2023 in the southeast of the country, which killed at least 53,000 people.
AFAD says it has carried out rescue and humanitarian aid missions in more than 50 countries on five continents in recent years, including Somalia, the Palestinian territories, Ecuador, the Philippines, Nepal, Yemen, Mozambique, and Chad.
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