Israel committing war crimes while the whole world watches: President Erdogan

Israel is committing "war crimes" in front of the whole world by targeting hospitals, schools, places of worship, mosques, churches, even ambulances carrying the sick and the dead, and refugee camps, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

Erdogan answered journalists’ questions on his return flight from Saudi Arabia on Saturday, where he attended the 8th Extraordinary Islamic Summit and met his counterparts to discuss Israel's attacks on Gaza, ongoing efforts to deliver aid to civilians, and potential steps toward a solution.

"Palestine, which has been struggling to exist under occupation and oppression for decades, has been experiencing unspeakable cruelty for the past 36 days. Innocent civilians in Gaza are losing their lives under Israel's indiscriminate heavy bombardment and are forcibly displaced from their own lands," Erdogan said.

Asserting that the Western countries are only watching all these atrocities from the tribunes, Erdogan said that those with a conscience can't remain silent in the face of all this.

"Since October 7, we have made intensive efforts to establish a humanitarian ceasefire through diplomacy and dialogue".

Türkiye emphasises the importance of establishing a ceasefire, ending the clashes and ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, the Turkish president reiterated.

"So far, we have sent 10 planes full of approximately 230 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Egypt to be delivered to Gaza," he said.

"The international community needs to take action against the massacres. However, we see that the United Nations Security Council is once again dysfunctional," he added.

"Our region can only achieve lasting peace with the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and with geographical integrity".

Türkiye key to solving crises in the region

“Türkiye is the country that offers the most applicable suggestions to solve the problems. Türkiye is the key country for solving the crises and problems in the region," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters.

"It is the only country that can meet with all the countries in our geography and gather the conflicting and warring parties at the same table," he stressed.

Erdogan added that he will continue to talk to each actor who wants to contact Türkiye for a sincere solution.

"Our effort is to protect human life, ensure peace, end wars, and wipe off the tears of the innocent," he noted.

Erdogan reiterated that Türkiye is ready to take responsibility as a guarantor for the solution's implementation.

"In coordination with our friends in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, we will continue to do our part to prevent further bloodshed,” he noted.

Erdogan welcomes nuclear resolution

Commenting on the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit Resolution, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "For the first time, we are proposing a 'Denuclearisation Conference' in the region due to Israel's nuclear weapons."

The resolution "condemned the hateful, extremist and racist acts and statements made by ministers in the Israeli occupation government, including the threat by one of the ministers to use nuclear weapons against the Palestinian people in Gaza, being a serious threat to global peace and security, which requires supporting the conference to establish a zone free of nuclear weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, held within the framework of the United Nations and its objectives to confront this threat.

"The issue of denuclearisation is very significant in terms of revealing which actors are supporting Israel", Erdogan told reporters aboard the presidential plane on his way back from the Saudi capital Riyadh.

“Now, it is of great importance that both the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League came together and took this step (resolution) because this is the first time in the history of the two organizations that such a meeting took place,” he added.

Relentless attacks

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on Gaza – including hospitals, residences, and houses of worship – since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on October 7.

At least 11,100 Palestinians have been killed, including 4,506 children and 3,027 women.

The Israeli death toll is around 1,400, according to official figures.