Turkish President: Islamic countries failed to react to Israel's massacres in Gaza

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attributed the difficult situation in Gaza to the inability of Islamic countries, unlike Western countries that provide Israel with all kinds of support.

Erdogan pointed out in a speech he delivered on Monday, during his participation in the "Extraordinary Arab and Islamic Summit" held in Riyadh, that "50,000 Palestinians have been martyred so far, 70 percent of whom are children and women, as a result of the Israeli massacres in Gaza and the rest of the Palestinian territories."

He explained that among the martyrs were politicians, resistance leaders, and leaders in the political wing of Hamas who were seeking peace and a ceasefire.

The Turkish president criticized the Islamic world's inability to face Israel's ongoing massacres in Gaza. He said: "While a handful of Western countries provide all kinds of support to Israel, Islamic countries are unable to react, which has led to the situation (in Gaza) reaching this level."

He stressed Türkiye's readiness to implement all concrete and realistic proposals "that would make Netanyahu's government feel that the occupation of Palestinian territories has a cost."

He added: "We must encourage as many countries as possible to join South Africa's lawsuit against Israel in the International Court of Justice."

Erdogan noted that Türkiye has sent more than 84,000 tons of aid to Gaza so far, and expressed its readiness to send more when the obstacles are removed.

He said that by recently banning the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Israel "aims to eliminate the two-state solution and prevent Palestinian refugees from returning to their homeland."

He pointed out that "Israel cannot even tolerate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and has been leaving the aid sent waiting in Egypt for months."

President Erdogan stated that "Israel aims to settle in Gaza, destroy the Palestinian presence in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and eventually annex it."

The Turkish President expressed his hope that the Palestinians would be able to achieve national unity among themselves, calling on Islamic countries to take steps against Israel.

"We all see the impossibility of reaching a two-state solution with the approval of the current Israeli government. Under these circumstances, we must encourage more countries to recognize the State of Palestine," he said.

He pointed out that 9 countries have recognized the State of Palestine since October 7, 2023. He said: "We believe that the obstacle in the Security Council will be overcome and the State of Palestine will see the day when it becomes a member of the United Nations."

The Turkish President considered the participation of more than 90 countries in the meeting of the "International Alliance for the Two-State Solution" in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on October 30 and 31, as "prompting."

He added: "I pray to God that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League will show the whole world that they are one voice and one heart on the Palestinian issue, and I hope that all countries will adhere literally to all the decisions that will be taken."

At the end of his speech, the Turkish President expressed his hope that the results of the meeting would be beneficial to the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been waging a "genocidal" war on Gaza, resulting in more than 146,000 Palestinian deaths and injuries, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

After clashes with factions in Lebanon, most notably Hezbollah, which began the day after Israel launched its war of extermination on Gaza, Tel Aviv expanded the scope of the extermination since September 23 to include most areas of Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, through air strikes, and also began a ground invasion in the south.

Source: Anadolu Agency