STORY: Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that Muslim nations must act in unison and rally international opposition against Israel’s plan to take control of Gaza City.
He made the comments after talks in Egypt.
Both countries condemned the plan on Friday. Turkey has said it marked a new phase in what it called Israel’s genocidal and expansionist policies, while calling for global measures to stop the plan’s implementation.
Israel rejects such description of its actions in Gaza.
Fidan said Israel’s policy aimed to force Palestinians out of their lands through hunger and that it aimed to permanently invade Gaza, adding there was no justifiable excuse for nations to continue supporting Israel.
Israel denies having a policy of starvation in Gaza and says Palestinian militant group Hamas, which killed 1,200 people in its October 2023 attack, could end the war by surrendering.
Meanwhile in Israel Saturday, family members of some of the 50 hostages believed to be held in Gaza called on Israel to end the war including Yotam Cohen whose brother Nimrod remains in captivity.
“Put forward a concrete proposal to end the war and secure the return of all the hostages this week, before the military operation begins. Time is running out. The entire Jewish people will stand behind you with an iron fist.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters held rallies across Europe Saturday including in Berlin, where they demanded “freedom for Palestine” and an end to “genocide,” with a handful of Israeli supporters gathered across the street.
A day earlier, the foreign ministers of Australia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom strongly condemned the Israeli Security Cabinet’s decision to launch a new large-scale military operation in Gaza.
Mediating teams from Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been working for months to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.