The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Israel to ‘immediately stop this madness’ and bring its ‘attacks’ on targets in Gaza to and end after Israeli forces intensified strikes on the Palestinian territory.
Erdogan said on X, formerly Twitter that; ‘The Israeli bombardments on Gaza intensified last night and once again targeted women, children and innocent civilians and worsened the ongoing humanitarian crisis’.
‘Israel must immediately stop this madness and end its attacks.’
Africa Today News, New York reports that Israel has been building up to a ground invasion since Hamas fighters crossed the border on October 7 and killed 1,400 people, mainly civilians, and took 229 hostages, according to Israel.
No fewer than 7,300 people have been killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes on the territory, including about 3,000 children, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
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Erdogan also encouraged heavy turnout for a rally in support of Palestinians in Istanbul on Saturday, organised by his Islamo-conservative AKP party, which could see around one million people attend.
“We will declare loud and clear that we stand alongside the Palestinian people against Israel’s persecution,” he said.
Africa Today News, New York reports that during his nearly two decades in power, Erdogan has repeatedly taken a stand in favour of the Palestinians, but last year he also moved to restore diplomatic relations with Israel, meeting in September with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time.
But on Wednesday he cancelled plans to visit Israel citing its “inhumane” war against Hamas militants in Gaza, whom he described not as a terrorist group but as “liberators” fighting for their land, drawing an angry condemnation from the Israeli government.
Meanwhile, Abdallah Abu Shawesh who is the Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria has declared that no fewer than 7,028 Palestinians, including 2,913 children, have been murdered in the ongoing war in Gaza, and no fewer than 1,500 missing under the rubbles, while about 20,000 civilians have sustained varying degrees of injuries.