LONDON: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday condemned the UN Security Council for failing to stop the war in Gaza.

Speaking at a gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly, he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are “endangering the lives” of Palestinians, Israelis and “the entire region for political gain.”

Erdogan said: “I call out to the UN Security Council: What are you waiting for to prevent the genocide in Gaza, to put a stop to this cruelty, this barbarianism?”

He added that the situation in Palestine “is a sign of a great moral collapse” and the Israeli government is disregarding basic human rights, “trampling on international law at every opportunity, and is practicing ethnic cleansing.”

He said the war is “a clear genocide” against the Palestinians and an occupation of their land. Erdogan called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where authorities say Israeli operations since last October have killed at least 41,467 people.

“An immediate and permanent ceasefire should be achieved, a hostage-prisoner exchange should be carried out, and humanitarian aid should be delivered to Gaza in an unhindered and uninterrupted way,” he said.

“Countries that have a say over Israel are openly complicit in this massacre … Those who are supposedly working for a ceasefire in front of the stage continue to send arms and ammunition to Israel so that it can continue its massacres on the background. This is inconsistency and insincerity.” 

Erdogan said the Israeli government, in “constantly dragging its feet,” is making it “almost impossible” for a ceasefire to be reached, signaling that it “doesn’t want peace.” 

He urged the international community to stop “Netanyahu and his murder network,” comparing the Israeli prime minister to Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler.

“Just as Hitler was stopped by the alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped by the alliance of humanity,” Erdogan said.