Live blog: Israeli leaders biggest obstacle to Middle East peace — Türkiye

Friday, October 25, 2024

2300 GMT — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet are the "biggest obstacle" to regional peace, Türkiye has said.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement late Thursday following claims by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz against Türkiye's anti-terror operations in Syria.

"It does not come as a surprise to us that the bloody Israeli administration, which massacred more than 40,000 civilians in Gaza without discriminating between children and women, committed genocide in front of the eyes of the world, and brought nothing but occupation, massacres, and state terror in its region and beyond, targeting our country and the UN, disregarding international law and norms," the statement added.

It said the remarks highlight the "desperation of Israel, which has engaged in state terrorism in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria," as well as its isolation in the international arena.

Ankara does not find the remarks noteworthy, calling them "baseless accusations for personal gain."

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2230 GMT — Israeli army targets southern Beirut with fresh air strikes

Israeli warplanes conducted air strikes late on Thursday in southern Beirut following hours of relative calm.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli fighter jets targeted a building in the Chouaifet Al Aamroussieh area with two air strikes.

Earlier, the Israeli army warned residents of a building in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood to evacuate immediately ahead of an air strike.

2200 GMT — Israel committing brutal genocide in Gaza hospitals: Hamas

Hamas has accused Israel of committing the most heinous acts of mass genocide in hospitals across the Gaza Strip

"Gaza hospitals have turned into war zones where the (Israeli) occupation is committing the worst acts of brutal genocide due to the Zionist killing machine," it said.

"The fascist Israeli army is escalating its horrific crimes in northern Gaza, imposing a siege on Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Beit Lahia area, targeting it along with the wounded, patients, medical teams, and hundreds of displaced families through heavy gunfire and artillery shelling."

Earlier Thursday, Munir Al-Bursh, director general of Gaza's Health Ministry, told Anadolu that "patients and the injured are living in a state of terror due to the Israeli targeting of Kamal Adwan Hospital and its surroundings in northern Gaza, where the Israeli army has been committing acts of mass extermination for 20 days."

2200 — France’s pro-Israel stance draws internal backlash from public institutions

Two French public institutions have criticised France’s stance on Israel's military actions in Gaza and Lebanon, sparking internal discontent on Thursday.

Employees from Expertise France, responsible for the country’s international cooperation projects, and the French Development Agency’s (AFD), sent letters to their management ahead of the "Support for the Lebanese People and Sovereignty" conference in Paris.

According to Le Monde, 110 employees of Expertise France addressed a letter to Director General Jeremie Pellet, urging the suspension of cooperation with Israeli institutions.

In a separate letter, employees at AFD’s Beirut office criticised France's perceived diplomatic double standards in the region.

For our live updates from Thursday, October 24, 2024, click here.