Israel's recent "disproportionate and unfounded" attacks on Gaza may lead it to international disrepute, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Wednesday, Anadolu Agency reports.
"The disproportionate and unscrupulous attacks on Gaza could bring Israel into an unexpected and undesirable place in the eyes of world public opinion,” Erdogan said at his Justice and Development (AK) Party's group meeting in the capital Ankara.
"Bombing civilian settlements, deliberately killing civilians, blocking vehicles (that are) bringing humanitarian aid to the region, and trying to present all of these as skills can only be a reflex of a (terrorist) organization, not a state,” he said, adding, “Israel should not forget that if it acts like an organization, not as a state, it will eventually come to be seen like one.”
On the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict that erupted late last week, Erdogan said Turkey does not find any action against civilians or any attack targeting civilian settlements to be justified.
"A conflict carried out with all kinds of shameful methods is not a war but a massacre," the president stressed.
In a dramatic escalation of Mideast tensions, Israeli forces have launched a sustained and forceful military campaign against the Gaza Strip, a response to a military operation by the Palestinian Resistance Hamas in Israeli-occupied territories.
The conflict began on Saturday when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against Israel, a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea, and air, which Hamas said was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Al-Quds and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.
RHM/PR
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