Türkiye ‘rejects, condemns’ attacks targeting civilians in Palestine

Türkiye “rejects and condemns” attacks targeting “innocent civilians” and causing their death in Palestine, the country’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said.

“I would like to emphasise once again that we invite Israel to adhere to international law and human values,” Hakan Fidan said in a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo on Saturday.

Israel, he said, “should have peace not only with Arab countries but mainly with Palestinians.”

Fidan informed that Türkiye is in close consultation with countries with which it has a similar stance on the Palestinian issue to prevent the conflict from spreading.

He called for the resumption of the peace process on the basis of a two-state solution and stressed that as Muslim countries in the region, it is necessary to establish a mechanism that will protect the survival of the Palestinians and be the guarantor of a just and lasting peace.

He added that Türkiye will continue to send humanitarian aid to Gaza as the ongoing conflict with Israel rages, and that they discussed the aid issue with other countries too.

"We were in search of how countries can address this issue in a more systematic way, in coordination, instead of providing aid separately. Of course, the UN is also in the field."

Hostilities enter second week

“We do not approve of the policy of displacing Palestinians in Gaza and deporting them to Egypt. We oppose this. And we stand with Egypt on this issue,” Fidan stressed during Saturday's joint conference.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry for his part said that Egypt and Türkiye share a common vision of the importance of efforts to overcome the serious humanitarian impacts of the conflict on Palestinians.

“Shift of the conflict between Palestine and Israel towards military operations arose due to failure to achieve legitimate rights of Palestinians,” he said.

Fidan is on a two-day official visit to Egypt at the invitation of Shoukry.

The visit comes as hostilities between the Palestinian armed group Hamas and Israel have entered their second week, with the embattled Gaza bordering northeast Egypt facing Israeli airstrikes, a cutoff of basic utilities, and an order for over 1 million residents to evacuate their homes in the north and go to the south.

Türkiye has so far sent three planes with humanitarian relief to an Egyptian airport in the hope of sending them to neighbouring Gaza.