Turkey to supply Israel with medical supplies to tackle the coronavirus pandemic

Three Israeli cargo planes landed at the Incirlik military base in the Turkish city of Adana as part of preparations to transport large shipments of medical equipment to Israel to fight the COVID-19 disease, despite the strained relations between Israel and Turkey, which has been unconditionally supporting the Palestinian cause. 

Several Hebrew media reported that the aircraft are waiting for a large shipment of masks, protective suits and sterile gloves to be delivered and the cargo is expected to be finally transported next Thursday. Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, was asked by the national executive to coordinate a committee in charge of developing the shipment of medical supplies to face COVID-19, a scourge that currently leaves more than 100 dead and around 11,000 diagnosed cases in Israel. 

Along these lines, there is already talk of a kind of 'coronavirus diplomacy' between the Turkish regime of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the acting government of Benjamin Netanyahu, despite the strong Ottoman support for the Palestinians, the great regional enemies of the Israeli state. 

According to the American channel Bloomberg, the Turkish government agreed to sell medical supplies, including masks, protective clothing and sterilized gloves, for "humanitarian reasons"; hoping that Israel would in turn allow a similar shipment of Turkish aid to reach the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), without imposing any obstacles, as a senior Turkish official told the Russian RT.

The medical equipment acquired by Israel was purchased to supply several national hospitals, including the Shaari Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem.
 

It seems that there are certain incongruities in the attitude of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who trades and also has close ties with Palestine and now offers support to Israel in the face of the current pandemic; in addition to interfering decisively in armed conflicts in other countries of the Middle East and North Africa, as is the case with Syria and Libya respectively. 

In what may be an attempt to mitigate the impact of this aid given to Israel, Erdogan has demanded that part of the burden should also reach the Palestinian territories, which have been suffering from a blockade decreed by Israel for many years now; however, this has led to a serious socio-economic crisis in regions such as Gaza and the West Bank.  

Various Israeli media pointed out that this condition of transferring part of the aid to the Palestinians was not part of the initial agreement. A pact was sealed between the Israeli state and the Turkish government, represented by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, who acknowledged the talks with the Hebrew authorities: "The talks with Israel continue for the shipment".

The two nations have been engaged in an exchange of attacks over the years and reduced their diplomatic ties during the time that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been in office; especially since the Mavi Marmara incident, in which 10 civilians were killed in clashes with Israeli commandos on a Turkish flotilla headed for the Gaza Strip in 2010 with the intention of breaking the blockade.

Last year, Israel's UN envoy declared that Turkey is a "regional hub for terrorism" and that Erdogan has been "destabilizing the region through violence and supporting terrorist organizations.
For his part, the Turkish representative to the UN, Feridun Sinirlioglu, responded that the Israeli government had been "hijacked by a terrorist state of mind".
 

The UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, warned that the socio-economic impact of the coronavirus in the occupied Palestinian territories could threaten the viability of the Palestinian National Authority, which is "vital to the security and well-being of both Palestinians and Israelis".

"I am concerned about the socio-economic consequences of the health crisis of COVID-19 on the Palestinian people, particularly on the vulnerable communities in Gaza," Mladenov said, adding that in addition to the health implications, there will be a severe blow to the Palestinian and Israeli economies, which will have "profound implications on welfare, employment, social cohesion and financial and institutional stability.

The UN representative is aware that the Palestinian government has "very limited control over its economy", without the conventional fiscal and monetary tools to remedy the crisis, which are controlled by Israel, and he recalled that "preserving the stability and functioning of the PNA is vital for the security and well-being of both Palestinians and Israelis".