GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza have sought care at a military field hospital set up by Morocco that opened its doors June 12. The facility's goal is primarily to assist with medical care for Palestinians injured during the Great Return March in light of the medicine shortages and lack of resources at local hospitals.

The medical equipment arrived on June 8 as part of an aid convoy led by Ahmed Tazi, Morocco’s ambassador to Egypt. Also arriving were 165 Moroccan physicians, nurses and media personnel, along with 56 tons of foodstuffs, which were delivered to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, and 25 tons of emergency medicines, which were distributed among Gazan hospitals.

In a May 27 statement, Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation expressed its intent to set up a surgical field hospital in Gaza at the behest of King Mohammed VI to ease the health care crisis stemming from the Great Return March, in which 127 Palestinians were killed and 14,700 wounded, according to figures released June 8 by Gaza’s Ministry of Health. The protest march began March 30, Land Day, to call attention to the Palestinians' dispossession and to demand that Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to the cities and villages from which they or their families were displaced in 1948.

Upon arriving at the Rafah border crossing, Tazi told the press, “The Moroccan humanitarian aid transported to the Gaza Strip via Egypt was carried in 17 planes.” He explained that the convoy included a field hospital, a team of doctors and a group of technicians tasked with management duties.