Erdogan calls Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the "Butcher of Gaza"
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described Israel's head of government Benjamin Netanyahu as the "butcher of Gaza" and accused him of promoting anti-Semitism. Netanyahu is endangering the security of all Jews worldwide with "the murders he is committing in Gaza", Erdogan said in a televised speech in parliament on Wednesday. Erdogan also accused the Israeli head of government of diminishing hopes "that the humanitarian pause can be transformed into a permanent ceasefire" with his statements about the "annihilation" of Hamas.
Since the brutal attack by the radical Islamic Hamas on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, the Turkish president has repeatedly attacked Netanyahu's government. Erdogan branded Israel an alleged "terrorist state", while describing Hamas as a "liberation organization".
Erdogan's harsh rhetoric is straining relations between the two countries. Both sides had sent ambassadors to the other country last year after a long diplomatic ice age. They also discussed the development of closer trade relations and work on new energy projects.
The Gaza war prompted Israel to withdraw all its diplomatic staff from Turkey and other countries in the region as a security precaution. Ankara, for its part, withdrew its envoy from Tel Aviv in protest against Israel's actions.
Hundreds of fighters from Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the USA and the EU, invaded Israel a good seven weeks ago and, according to Israeli figures, killed around 1,200 people and took around 240 prisoners.
In response, Israel massively bombed targets in the Gaza Strip from the air and on the ground for weeks. According to Hamas, which cannot be independently verified, almost 15,000 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since then. A ceasefire has been in force since Friday, during which Hamas released hostages and Israel released Palestinian prisoners.
- While delivering a speech in parliament, Erdogan accused Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of endangering the security of all Jews worldwide by committing "murders" in Gaza, labeling him the "butcher of Gaza."
- Erdogan's harsh criticism of Netanyahu's government and description of Israel as an alleged "terrorist state" has strained relations between Turkey and Israel, which had recently started discussing closer trade relations and new energy projects.
- Following Netanyahu's accusations of "annihilation" of Hamas, Erdogan claimed that the Israeli head of government was diminishing hopes for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
- During a seven-week period, hundreds of fighters from the Hamas organization, classified as a terrorist organization by both the USA and the EU, invaded Israel, according to Israeli figures, resulting in the deaths of around 1,200 people and the imprisonment of around 240.
- In response to Hamas's invasion, Israel conducted extensive air and ground bombings in the Gaza Strip for weeks, resulting in an estimated 15,000 deaths in the Palestinian territory, according to Hamas (although this figure cannot be independently verified).
Source: www.ntv.de
