Türkiye working to prove 'Israel's genocidal attempts' in Palestine: Altun

Türkiye will continue efforts to prove “Israel's barbarity, genocidal attempts, war crimes and evil activities not only in Gaza but throughout Palestine,” the Turkish Communications Director said.

"As Islamic countries, we will continue to shout the truth. We will never allow the Palestinian cause to fall off the global agenda. We will continue to shed light on this darkness that Israel has grown to cover up its crimes,” Fahrettin Altun said on Saturday during the Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers -- an event in Istanbul involving Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member and observer countries.

Altun said he hoped that the meeting would lead to historical and beneficial results for the entire Islamic world, especially Palestinians.

Noting that the meeting has a special place in the history of the OIC, he said the group held an extraordinary meeting on a sectoral basis for the first time in its history.

"This meeting is of vital importance in terms of being able to demonstrate a common attitude against Israeli oppression and to put forward a common struggle for the truth in the field of communication and media,” he said.

He added that the final declaration of the meeting will send a strong message to the international community.

Tackling disinformation

Altun met officials from Bangladesh, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Niger, Somalia and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as part of the meeting where officials discussed Israeli attacks on Gaza and misleading, fake news and disinformation activities.​​​​​​​

Israel has pounded Gaza since an October 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas. The ensuing Israeli war has killed more than 29,600 people and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities. Nearly 70,000 people have been injured.

Less than 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85 percent of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave' s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

The Israeli war has continued unabated, however, and aid deliveries remain woefully insufficient to address the humanitarian catastrophe.