The UN Security Council must intervene quickly to protect the Palestinians, according to the Turkish president.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the international community should “give Israel a strong and dissuasive lesson” on its conduct towards the Palestinians.
Erdogan made the comment during a phone call with Putin on Wednesday, Turkey’s Presidential Communications Directorate said. escalation of violence in occupied East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Hostilities erupted after Hamas, which rules the besieged Gaza Strip, issued an ultimatum on Monday demanding that Israel withdraw its security forces from the Al-Aqsa Mosque site in Jerusalem’s Old City after a violent crackdown. repression against the Palestinians.
The third day in a row for Israeli police was held on Monday he stormed the third holiest site in Islam, firing rubber-coated steel rounds, stun grenades and tear gas at Palestinian believers in the last days of the holy month of Ramadan
The escalation was triggered by Israel’s plans strongly expel residents from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem to make way for Israeli settlers.
Gaza’s health ministry said the overall death toll since the last offensive began was 56, including 14 children. More than 300 people have been injured. Six Israelis have also been killed.
The Turkish statement on Wednesday said Erdogan stressed the need for “the international community to teach Israel a strong and dissuasive lesson” and pressed for the UN Security Council to intervene quickly with “determined and clear messages” to Israel .
The statement says Erdogan suggested Putin be considered an international protection force to shield Palestinians.
Erdogan had expressed late last year a desire to see relations between them Turkey and Israel are getting better, after years of disagreement over the occupation of Tel Aviv in the West Bank and its treatment of Palestinians.
Turkey, which in 1949 became the first Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel, first severed ties with Israel in 2010.
This came after 10 pro-Palestinian Turkish activists were killed by Israeli commanders who boarded a Turkish-owned ship, the Mavi Marmara, which was part of a flotilla trying to deliver aid and break the Israeli maritime blockade on Gaza for a year.
The Israeli blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip has existed since June 2007, when Israel imposed an airtight, sea and air blockade on the area.
Ties re-established in 2016, but relations worsened again in 2018.
In May of that year, Ankara withdrew its envoy for deadly attacks on Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip protesting the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have often exchanged angry comments, but both countries continue to negotiate with each other.
In August this year, Israel accused Turkey of giving passports to a dozen Hamas members in Istanbul, calling the move “a very unfriendly step” that its government would take with Turkish officials.
Hamas seized the besieged Gaza Strip loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007 after winning the 2006 legislative elections. Since then, Israel has severely intensified its siege and launched three prolonged military assaults on Gaza.
