Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced Israel’s plan to create a demilitarized buffer zone in Gaza.
He stressed that even discussing such an idea is “disrespectful to Palestinians.”
His remarks were in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that there is no option for his country’s security other than direct military control, stating that Gaza Strip will have to be demilitarized after the current war.
“Gaza must be demilitarised. And in order for Gaza to be demilitarised, there is only one force that can see to this demilitarisation – and that force is the IDF,” the Prime Minister asserted in a statement on Tuesday.
“No international force can be responsible for this. We have seen what has happened in other places where they brought in international forces for the goal of demilitarisation. I am not prepared to close my eyes and accept any other arrangement.”
Benjamin Netanyahu
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, Erdogan reiterated that Gaza’s future should be in the hands of Palestinians and defended Hamas as a legitimate resistance force.
He also warned Israel against going after any Hamas members on Turkish soil, saying it would “pay a heavy price” for doing so.
Erdogan has been one of Israel’s staunchest critics since the Gaza war broke out, bringing Israel-Turkey relations to their lowest point in years.
Israeli forces claim to have conducted 10,000 air strikes since October 7, 2023
The UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territories said that it is tantamount to one strike per 220 Palestinians in Gaza.
The office said that the barrage of attacks on residential and other civilian infrastructure “raises serious concerns about Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law and significantly raises the risk of atrocity crimes.”
The attacks have been exacerbated by the forced displacement of 1.9 out of 2.2 million Palestinians – the vast majority of whom sought refuge in the south – Khan Younis and Rafah.
“Presently, many of them, along with the residents of Khan Younis, are being pushed further into smaller and smaller areas in Rafah without sanitation, access to food, water, shelter or health care,” the office said.
Earlier, Volker Turk, the UN human rights Chief stated that Palestinians in Gaza are facing “utter, deepening horror” as disease spreads, food is scarce and humanitarian aid is all but cut off.
Turk disclosed that about 1.9 million displaced Palestinians are being forced into smaller and smaller pockets of southern Gaza.
The conditions are “overcrowded” and “unsanitary”, he said.
“My humanitarian colleagues have described the situation as apocalyptic,” Turk added, saying the catastrophe “was entirely foreseeable and preventable.”
Japan Urges Israel To Avoid Civilian Casualties
Also on Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida had a phone call with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to a Japanese foreign ministry announcement, Kishida stated that “continued growth in the number of civilian casualties should be avoided, and that it is important to calm the situation swiftly, minimize civilian casualties and observe international law including international humanitarian law.”
In response, Netanyahu set out Israel’s position on the military operation in Gaza, the announcement revealed, without elaborating.
Meanwhile, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the Spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority presidency, called for urgent international intervention to stop the Israeli occupation’s “comprehensive aggression” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, Abu Rudeineh said that Israel is practising “organised terrorism” against the Palestinians in all its locations.
He also held the United States responsible for this escalation and asked it to pressure the Israeli government to stop its war against the Palestinians.
He called on the UN Security Council to “intervene urgently to stop the shedding of Palestinian blood in light of the unprecedented international silence”.
READ ALSO: Ukraine Marks Armed Forces Day
