Israel now major threat to global peace: Turkish foreign minister

By Zehra Nur Celik

ANKARA (AA) – Israel is now a major threat to global peace, aided by nations that provide weapons and political support, the Turkish foreign minister said on Tuesday.

"Today, Israel has become the main threat to international peace and security, but Israel is not committing this crime alone," Hakan Fidan said at a joint news conference with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi.

"There are countries that support Israel, providing it with weapons and political backing," Fidan noted.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since October of last year’s Hamas attack, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,300 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 99,000 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has resulted in severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is also facing a genocide case in the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

Fidan underlined that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza for over a year, and now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also attempting to gradually occupy Lebanon.

"(Israel) is targeting humanitarian aid efforts. Israel, which has been killing the people of this region since 1948, is now also targeting foreigners," he said.

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,542 people, injuring over 4,555 others, and displacing more than 1.34 million people. It also began a ground invasion earlier this month.

Touching on Türkiye-Jordan relations, Fidan said they discussed bilateral relations with his Jordanian counterpart and aim to hold the first meeting of the Joint Economic Commission in the first quarter of 2025.

He also expressed a desire to strengthen cooperation in the defense industry, noting that there are many agreements they hope to sign in the coming time, to complete these as soon as possible and deepen relations even further.