Israel increasingly becoming more alienated, isolated: Turkish foreign minister

ISTANBUL

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Tuesday said Israel, which has continued its military offensive in the Gaza Strip for more than seven months, is getting “more alienated and isolated” due to its policies.

“Israel is getting increasingly alienated and isolated by the international community,” Fidan told a press conference alongside his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg in Ankara.

“Just as it was wrong to kill innocent Jews in concentration camps, it's equally wrong to kill innocent Palestinian children in their beds with bombs,” Fidan said, referring to the killing of more than 35,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children in Gaza since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack that claimed 1,200 lives.

The top diplomat said Israel's killing of “thousands of innocent Palestinians, displacement of millions of people is an act of genocide.”

“International law and human rights are being trampled by Israel, and diplomatic efforts have failed once again due to the Rafah invasion,” he said.

Last week, Hamas accepted a proposal drawn up by Egypt and Qatar to end the war. But Israel said the truce offer did not meet its key demands and decided to push ahead with an operation in Rafah, the southern city home to more than 1.5 million displaced people.

On the Ukraine war that started in February 2022, Fidan said he reiterated commitment to supporting Ukraine's sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity in talks with his Austrian counterpart.

Türkiye has time and again called on Kyiv and Moscow to end fighting and end the conflict through negotiations. It first hosted a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers in the Mediterranean city of Antalya in March 2022.

The efforts were fruitful with significant results, such as the landmark grain deal, and the exchange of prisoners of war.

Fidan also touched upon renewed tensions in the Balkans, saying: “It is clear that Türkiye and Austria need more cooperation in efforts for a solution to issues in Balkans."