ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A large number of Palestinians who fled war in Gaza and sought refuge in Turkey attended Eid prayer sermons in the Turkish capital city of Ankara on Wednesday morning, praying for the safety of their loved ones and the end of Israel’s war on the strip.
Despite having lost his mother to an Israeli bombing and having suffered leg injuries, Ali Musa, a teen from Gaza, joined his community members to attend an Eid prayer sermon in Ankara.
"They bombarded our house and our car, and my mom died and got martyred. She left behind her younger sister Radiaa. They threw explosive barrels at us, on our car and the square," Musa told Rudaw's Shawkat Harki.
A total of 2,227 Palestinians, most of whom suffered injuries resulting from Israel’s offensive, are currently in Turkey, according to data from the Turkish interior ministry.
"We are spending this Eid here in Ankara, but we do not forget our people in Gaza who are living under a blockade, destruction, and hunger. We hope to God that we will be with them in the coming Eid and that it will be an Eid of liberation for Palestine and our lands, with our brothers, hopefully," said Osama Qandil, another Palestinian who attended the Eid prayer sermon.
Over 33,000 people, including more than 12,000 children, have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of Israel’s brutal campaign in the strip in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack. The Palestinian group killed some 1,200 people and took around 200 others hostage in the attack.
On Wednesday, three sons and four grandchildren of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas were killed in an Israeli air attack on a Gaza refugee camp, confirmed Haniyeh repeating his call for a ceasefire.
The UN Security Council in late March passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire of the Israeli offensive on Gaza for the rest of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, but the Israeli regime refused to comply.
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