Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said yesterday that Israel must stop its regular violations of the US-backed ceasefire in Gaza and also fulfil its duty to allow access to humanitarian aid.
He was speaking after a ministerial meeting in Istanbul involving Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia and Türkiye.
Countries are still working on a planned United Nations mandate for a stabilisation force in Gaza as part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal, and they will decide whether to send soldiers based on this, Fidan said.
Türkiye wants to see a post-war framework for Gaza in which “Palestinians ensure Palestine’s governance and security,” he said
Türkiye hosted a string of top diplomats to bring their influence to bear on the future of Gaza, as fears grow for the increasingly fragile truce. All of them were called to a meeting with Trump in late September on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, just days before he unveiled his plan to end the fighting in Gaza.
The October 10 ceasefire in the two-year-long Israel-Hamas war, brokered by US President Donald Trump, has been sorely tested by continued Israeli strikes and claims of Palestinian attacks on Israeli soldiers.
Turkish foreign ministry sources say Ankara will press them to support plans for Palestinians to take control of the coastal territory’s security and governance.
At the weekend, Fidan welcomed a Hamas delegation led by Khalil Al Hayya, the Palestinian movement’s lead negotiator.
“We must end the massacre in Gaza. A ceasefire in itself is not enough,” Fidan said, stressing that “Gaza should be governed by the Palestinians.”
Earlier in the day, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Hamas appeared committed to the truce, pointing the finger of blame at Israel.
“It seems Hamas is quite determined to adhere to the agreement while Israel’s record is very poor,” he told an Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) gathering in Istanbul, saying Muslim states should play “a leading role” in Gaza’s recovery.
“We believe the reconstruction plan prepared by the Arab League and the OIC should be implemented immediately,” he said of the plan unveiled in March.
Türkiye has been instrumental in backing Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza.
Fidan is expected to repeat calls for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, where aid agencies have complained their convoys still do not have enough access to alleviate the famine conditions in parts of the territory.
Israel has long viewed Türkiye’s diplomatic overtures with suspicion over Ankara’s close ties with Hamas and has expressed its firm opposition to Türkiye having any role in the international peacekeeping force being put together to oversee the ceasefire.
Under Trump’s plan, that stabilisation mission is meant to take over in the wake of the Israeli army’s withdrawal from the Palestinian territory.
A Turkish disaster relief team, sent to help efforts to recover the many bodies buried under Gaza’s rubble – including those of Israeli hostages seized by Hamas – has likewise been stuck at the border because of the Israeli government’s refusal to let them in, according to Ankara.
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