Henry Dunant, a witness of Solferino War, published A Souvenir of Solferino in 1862 calling for improved care for the wounded soldiers in wartime. A year later, the International Committee of the Red Cross was introduced for the first time in Geneva, Switzerland. This committee brought together the government representatives to agree on Dunant's proposal for national relief societies, to help military medical services. At the end of the Congress, the first Geneva Convention was signed in consequence on 22 August 1864. According to this treaty, armies were obliged to care for the wounded soldiers, regardless of their side. With the signing of the Convention, each country began to establish its own Red Cross organization. Ottoman Empire signed the Convention in 1865. Although the first steps for the Red Crescent were taken in 1868, the Ottoman Red Crescent was established in 1877 with the declaration that it would use a red crescent on a white background as a symbol instead of the “red cross”.
As the predecessor of the contemporary Turkish Red Crescent, the Ottoman Red Crescent, which was reorganized in 1911, started to open branches in the province and district centers in accordance with its regulation. One of these branches was organized in Jerusalem in September 1911. After this date, the Jerusalem branch carried out important activities in the region during the World War I, which reshaped the world history and brought the end of the Ottoman Empire. The aid collected on behalf of the Ottoman Red Crescent was sent to the center via the branch and mobile hospitals were opened in the region for the treatment of the wounded soldiers. This study aims to explain the relief works of the Ottoman Red Crescent organized in Jerusalem for the victims of the World War I in the light of the archival documents.