ADDS MORE REMARKS OF TURKISH PRESIDENT AND BACKGROUND
By Diyar Guldogan
Ankara is ready to undertake a mediator role in the current Israeli-Palestinian tension, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
"I would like to state that Türkiye is ready for any kind of mediation, including prisoner exchanges, if the parties request it.
"We continue to step up our diplomatic contacts, which we have been maintaining for a while and have intensified even more in the last three days," Erdogan said after a Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.
Erdogan said that war is subject to a moral and ethical code, adding: "The sides are obliged to comply with that. As we always say, 'There are no losers in a just peace'."
Türkiye also calls on Israel to stop its bombing of Palestinian lands and urged Palestinians to stop their harassment of civilian settlements in Israel, he said.
This is the day to act with a human conscience, Erdogan said, adding: "This moderate step will also open the door to peace."
"The destruction of Gaza by air and ground attacks, the bombing of mosques, and the deaths of innocent children, women, elderly, and civilians are never acceptable," Erdogan stressed.
Türkiye is also making necessary preparations to supply humanitarian aid materials that the people of the Gaza Strip will need, he added, referring to devastation from Israeli airstrikes and the destruction of infrastructure there.
Gaza-based resistance group Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel early Saturday, firing a barrage of rockets. It said the surprise attack was in response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and growing settler violence.
In retaliation, the Israeli army launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza has risen to 687, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said on Monday. It also said the number of injured surged to 2,900.
The Interior Ministry in Gaza said the Israeli army has "intensified its aggression" on Gaza with hundreds of raids.
The Israeli army said it had struck over 500 targets in overnight raids on Gaza, which they claimed were targets belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups.
At least 900 Israelis have been killed and over 2,600 others wounded in the fighting, according to local media.
- 'No peace in region without sovereign, independent Palestine'
"Türkiye’s stance on this issue has been clear from the very beginning. We have recognized the state of Israel since 1949 and we maintain our diplomatic relations, although they were occasionally interrupted,” Erdogan explained.
"We believe that there will be no peace in the region without the establishment of an independent sovereign state of Palestine with geographical integrity, within the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital," he reiterated.
The president added that the problems in the region cannot be solved by "constantly harassing the Palestinian people, disregarding the safety of their life and property, seizing their homes and lands, destroying their infrastructure, and preventing their development."
"We have always said and continue to say that we disapprove of letting a single innocent person get harmed, whether in Israel or Palestine’s lands. Our position has not changed,” he said.
Ankara strongly supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, including the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Earlier Monday, Erdogan held separate phone calls both with his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the latest situation in the region.
"I expressed to both leaders our deep sorrow over the civilian deaths. We said we are ready to do our best to end the conflicts and restore peace as soon as possible," Erdogan added.