ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday described Israel as a “terrorist state” and vowed to use “all means to fight” against the US recognition of Jerusalem as the country’s capital.
“Palestine is an innocent victim... As for Israel, it is a terrorist state, yes, terrorist!” Erdogan said in a speech in the central city of Sivas.
“We will not abandon Jerusalem to the mercy of a state that kills children.”
His speech came days after US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, angering Palestinians and sparking protests in Muslim and Arab countries.
Four Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in violence following the US announcement.
Rockets were fired from Gaza and Israeli warplanes carried out raids on the territory.
Erdogan earlier described the status of Jerusalem, whose eastern sector Palestinians see as the capital of their future state, as a “red line” for Muslims.
He called Trump’s declaration “null and void.”
The Turkish president has used his position as the current chairman of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to call a summit of the pan-Islamic group on Wednesday.
“We will show that applying the measure will not be as easy as that,” he added on Sunday.
During his speech, Erdogan held a picture of what he said was a 14-year-old Palestinian boy from Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, being dragged away by Israeli soldiers.
Trump’s administration insisted on Sunday that its recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital will help the cause of peace, with UN Ambassador Nikki Haley saying it will “move the ball forward.”
The new US stance, fiercely criticized by Palestinians, Arab leaders and others as gravely damaging any prospects for Middle East peace, has given rise to swelling protests across the region in recent days.
But Haley suggested that the fears are overblown.
She told CNN that Trump was the first US president to have the “courage” to make a move that she said many Americans and others around the world supported.
“When it comes to those people (who are) upset, we knew that was going to happen. But courage causes that... I strongly believe this is going to move the ball forward for the peace process.”
When a CNN interviewer asked repeatedly how the change would help the cause of peace, Haley suggested that it would simplify negotiations.
“Now they get to come together to decide what the borders look like, they get to decide the boundaries and they get to talk about how they want to see Jerusalem, going forward.
“All we did was say, ‘this is not something we’re going to allow to happen in the middle of your negotiations.’“
Critics of the US shift say it will have the opposite effect: It has long been US policy that the critically sensitive status of Jerusalem — claimed as capital by both Israelis and Palestinians — must be saved for the end of peace negotiations, not taken off the table at the start.
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Erdogan calls Israel ‘terrorist state’
Erdogan calls Israel ‘terrorist state’
Six dead as Gaza’s displaced struggle in torrential rain
- Five people, including two women and a girl, die when homes collapsed near Gaza City
- One-year-old boy died of extreme cold in a tent in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza
CAIRO/GAZA: A rainstorm swept across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, flooding hundreds of tents, collapsing homes sheltering families displaced by two years of war and killing at least six people, local health officials said.
Medics said five people, including two women and a girl, died when homes collapsed near Gaza City’s beach, while a one-year-old boy died of extreme cold in a tent in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.
Tents were torn from their stakes, some flying dozens of meters before crashing to the ground. Others lay crumpled in muddy pools as families scrambled to salvage what they could. Residents tried to re-secure remaining shelters, hammering in loosened pegs and stacking sandbags around the edges to keep floodwaters from pouring inside.
“We didn’t realize what was happening until the wall started collapsing — an eight-meter-high wall, a strong concrete wall. Because of the speed and force of the wind, the wall fell on top of us, onto three tents,” said Bassel Hamuda, a displaced man in Gaza.
“The elderly man, 73 years old, was martyred. His son’s wife was killed, and his son’s daughter was killed,” he told Reuters.
Three months since a ceasefire halted major combat, Israeli forces have ordered the near-total depopulation of nearly two thirds of Gaza, forcing its more than 2 million people into a narrow strip near the coast where most live either in makeshift tents or damaged buildings.
RELATIVES GATHER AT MORGUE
Dozens of relatives gathered at a hospital morgue on Tuesday for special prayers over bodies laid on medical stretchers before the funerals.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said at least 31 Palestinians had died since the start of the winter season from exposure to cold or the collapse of unsafe buildings damaged by previous Israeli strikes.
It said about 7,000 tents were damaged in the past 48 hours, most of whose occupants have no alternative shelter.
Municipal and civil defense officials said they were unable to cope with the storm because of fuel shortages and damaged equipment. During the war Israel had destroyed hundreds of vehicles needed to respond to the weather emergency, including bulldozers and water pumps.
In December, a UN report said 761 displacement sites hosting about 850,000 people were at high risk of flooding, and thousands had moved in anticipation of heavy rain.
UN and Palestinian officials said at least 300,000 new tents were urgently needed for the roughly 1.5 million people still displaced. Most existing shelters are worn out or made of thin plastic and cloth sheeting.
“In Gaza, winter weather is adding to the suffering of families already pushed to the brink by over two years of war,” UNRWA, the UN Palestinian refugee agency, said in a post on X on Tuesday.
“Flooding, cold temperatures, and damaged shelters are exposing displaced people to new risks, while humanitarian access remains severely constrained,” it added.
In a statement on Tuesday, Hamas urged mediators of the Gaza ceasefire deal that began in October to compel Israel to allow the unconditional flow of aid, shelter, and rebuilding materials.
Israel says hundreds of trucks enter Gaza daily carrying food, medical supplies and shelter equipment. International aid organizations say the supplies are still insufficient.
Medics said five people, including two women and a girl, died when homes collapsed near Gaza City’s beach, while a one-year-old boy died of extreme cold in a tent in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.
Tents were torn from their stakes, some flying dozens of meters before crashing to the ground. Others lay crumpled in muddy pools as families scrambled to salvage what they could. Residents tried to re-secure remaining shelters, hammering in loosened pegs and stacking sandbags around the edges to keep floodwaters from pouring inside.
“We didn’t realize what was happening until the wall started collapsing — an eight-meter-high wall, a strong concrete wall. Because of the speed and force of the wind, the wall fell on top of us, onto three tents,” said Bassel Hamuda, a displaced man in Gaza.
“The elderly man, 73 years old, was martyred. His son’s wife was killed, and his son’s daughter was killed,” he told Reuters.
Three months since a ceasefire halted major combat, Israeli forces have ordered the near-total depopulation of nearly two thirds of Gaza, forcing its more than 2 million people into a narrow strip near the coast where most live either in makeshift tents or damaged buildings.
RELATIVES GATHER AT MORGUE
Dozens of relatives gathered at a hospital morgue on Tuesday for special prayers over bodies laid on medical stretchers before the funerals.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said at least 31 Palestinians had died since the start of the winter season from exposure to cold or the collapse of unsafe buildings damaged by previous Israeli strikes.
It said about 7,000 tents were damaged in the past 48 hours, most of whose occupants have no alternative shelter.
Municipal and civil defense officials said they were unable to cope with the storm because of fuel shortages and damaged equipment. During the war Israel had destroyed hundreds of vehicles needed to respond to the weather emergency, including bulldozers and water pumps.
In December, a UN report said 761 displacement sites hosting about 850,000 people were at high risk of flooding, and thousands had moved in anticipation of heavy rain.
UN and Palestinian officials said at least 300,000 new tents were urgently needed for the roughly 1.5 million people still displaced. Most existing shelters are worn out or made of thin plastic and cloth sheeting.
“In Gaza, winter weather is adding to the suffering of families already pushed to the brink by over two years of war,” UNRWA, the UN Palestinian refugee agency, said in a post on X on Tuesday.
“Flooding, cold temperatures, and damaged shelters are exposing displaced people to new risks, while humanitarian access remains severely constrained,” it added.
In a statement on Tuesday, Hamas urged mediators of the Gaza ceasefire deal that began in October to compel Israel to allow the unconditional flow of aid, shelter, and rebuilding materials.
Israel says hundreds of trucks enter Gaza daily carrying food, medical supplies and shelter equipment. International aid organizations say the supplies are still insufficient.
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