ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday told United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres that Israel must be held accountable in international courts for what he called war crimes it committed in Gaza, the Turkish presidency said.
Israel has mounted an offensive by air and ground against Hamas militants in Gaza in which more than 15,000 people have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities.
The offensive was launched after Hamas went on a rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage.
In a phone call ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Gaza planned for Wednesday, Erdogan and Guterres discussed the “expectations of the international community regarding Israel’s unlawful attacks,” access of humanitarian aid into the enclave, and efforts for a lasting peace, the Turkish presidency said.
“During the call, President Erdogan said Israel continues to shamelessly trample on international law, the laws of war, and international humanitarian law by looking in the eyes of the international community, and it must be held accountable for the crimes it committed in front of international law,” it said in a statement.
Turkiye’s foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would attend the UN Security Council meeting in New York.
In a statement, it added that Fidan would hold also meet his counterparts as part of a so-called contact group of some Muslim countries, formed by the Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) this month to discuss Gaza with Western powers and others.
Turkiye has harshly criticized Israel’s attacks on Gaza and called for an immediate cease-fire to allow for discussions over a two-state solution to the wider Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Erdogan has called the Israeli attacks on Gaza a genocide and accused Israel of being a “teror state.” Israel rejects such charges and say it is acting in self-defense against a foe bent on it destruction.
Turkiye also hosts some members of Hamas, which it does not consider a terrorist group, unlike the United States, European Union, and some Gulf countries. It has accused the West, apart from Spain and Belgium, of complicity due to their support of Israel.
Erdogan tells UN chief Israel must be tried in international courts for Gaza crimes
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Erdogan tells UN chief Israel must be tried in international courts for Gaza crimes
- Erdogan and Guterres discussed the “expectations of the international community regarding Israel’s unlawful attacks”
- “During the call, President Erdogan said Israel continues to shamelessly trample on international law, the laws of war,” the Turkish presidency said
Syrian government announces ceasefire in Aleppo
- Syrian government forces have been fighting the Kurdish-led SDF force in Aleppo, where at least 21 people have been killed in several days of clashes
DAMASCUS: Damascus: Syria’s defense ministry announced a ceasefire in several neighborhoods of Aleppo on Friday after days of deadly clashes with Kurdish fighters.
“To prevent any slide toward a new military escalation within residential neighborhoods, the Ministry of Defense announces ... a ceasefire in the vicinity of the Sheikh Maqsoud, Alashrafieh, and Bani Zeid neighborhoods of Aleppo, effective from 3:00 am,” the ministry wrote in a statement.
Syrian government forces have been fighting the Kurdish-led SDF force in Aleppo, where at least 21 people have been killed in several days of clashes.
Both sides have traded blame over who started the clashes on Tuesday, which comes as implementation stalls on a deal to merge the Kurds’ administration and military into the government.
The worst violence in Aleppo since Syria’s Islamist authorities took power has also highlighted regional tensions between Damascus ally Turkiye and Israel, which condemned what it described as attacks against the Kurds.
