Students in Istanbul flew kites at an event organized to support children in Gaza and raise awareness of their situation.
The program, held on Thursday along the Maltepe coast, was organized under the coordination of the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education and the Maltepe District Directorate of National Education. It was attended by 800 students and 100 teachers from schools in the districts of Maltepe, Kartal and Pendik.
Thirty-five Palestinian students studying in Istanbul also took part in the program. The students expressed their feelings and thoughts in messages of solidarity and peace for the children of Gaza.
Mithat Ekşi, deputy director of national education for Istanbul Province, said they had not forgotten the children in Gaza who had been deprived of their pens, toys, schools and desks. Ekşi said they remembered the children who smiled, continued their education and sent messages to the world among destroyed buildings and rubble.
Kites bearing the Turkish and Palestinian flags were flown over Istanbul during the event. The program ended after the students delivered their messages of peace.
Israeli media had previously claimed that some kites flown from the Gaza Strip had landed in settlements near Israel. The media also said that Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz had held a security meeting over the claims and threatened to intensify attacks and forcibly displace Palestinians if the kite flights continued.
Hamas, meanwhile, argued that the kites in question had been flown by children and that Israel was using them as a pretext for attacks on Gaza.