Türkiye's Fidan calls for new guarantee mechanism in Israel-Palestine conflict

The Israel-Palestine conflict requires a new guarantee mechanism, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said.

Addressing the Cairo Peace Summit in Egypt, Fidan said the Israel-Palestine conflict requires a new guarantee mechanism and it is necessary to guarantee steps taken by parties for just peace.

"There should be a guarantee mechanism for monitoring, verifying, (and) when needed, enforcing the obligations of the parties in a just peace," Fidan explained.

"Türkiye remains ready to further develop this concept and share the responsibility for creating a dignified, just, and secure future for all," he added.

Türkiye will never allow the sufferings of Palestinians to continue, he expressed.

"Israel 'imprisons' the 2 million inhabitants of besieged Gaza, which has become 'unfit for decent human life,' while branding it 'a protection against terrorism,' he said.

"By dehumanising Palestinian lives, Israel aims to normalise Palestinian suffering. We say, never. Never for Palestinians, never for anybody else."

He expressed that if Israeli attacks were to continue, these attacks would threaten global stability and peace with geographical escalation.

Collective and cruel suffering of Palestinians

"Unconditional military aid to Israel or coercing regional countries to unrealistic and unsustainable plans serve nothing but deepening occupation," he added, underlining that such policies ignore the Palestinians.

Asserting that current international order has been unable to produce a solution to "core problems," Fidan said it has only caused the "erosion of universal values and distortion of facts on the ground."

"Up until now Israel took advantage of this systemic failure," he further added.

Pointing to "collective and cruel suffering" being inflicted on people in besieged Gaza, Fidan underscored that no reason could justify it.

Urging international community

"We must be unequivocal in condemning and resisting the loss of any single innocent life," he said.

Urging the international community to calibrate its actions and messages at this "highly critical point" in history, he said Israel should understand that "temporary so-called victories" of the past did not bring long-term security then and would not now, either.

A sovereign, independent, and territorially contiguous Palestine with its capital in East Jerusalem based on the 1967 borders is a must for peace and a strategic imperative for international security and stability, he stressed.

The summit, held with international, Arab and UN participation, is discussing the unfolding situation in Gaza, the future of the Palestinian cause and the peace process.

Intensification of the conflict

The conflict in Gaza began when Hamas initiated Operation Al Aqsa Flood, a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea, and air. It said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets in Gaza, along with stepping up raids and arrests in the occupied West Bank.

In addition to launching a sweeping bombardment campaign ahead of an expected ground invasion, Israel ordered a "full siege" on Gaza that has led to electricity supplies being severed as water, food, fuel and medical supplies run out.