Senior Turkish lawmaker urges Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe to raise pressure on Israel for immediate cease-fire in Gaza

By Selen Valente Rasquinho

BRUSSELS (AA) - A senior Turkish lawmaker on Friday urged the Parliamentary Assembly of European Council (PACE) to increase pressure on Israel for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

Speaking to the group, Mustafa Canbey, a member of the Turkish delegation to PACE, drew attention to the importance of developing a swift and permanent resolution to end the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza, which he called one of the most destructive catastrophes of the modern world.

"Civilians in Gaza are subject to illegitimate and illegal Israeli attacks. And due to the Israeli blockade, hunger and a lack of water hang over them, most of them women and children. This state of affairs poses a threat to global peace," he said.

Though the International Court of Justice demanded that Israel halt its attacks, stop killing civilians, and allow the entry of more humanitarian aid to Gaza, the sufferings of the Gazans didn't stop as Israel continued its attacks, Canbey noted.

"As proved by the latest escalation between Iran and Israel, ensuring a permanent resolution is key to peace and stability in the wider Middle East," he said.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7 in which some 1,200 people were killed.

Nearly 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 76,600 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.