Turkish President Erdogan heads to Riyadh for joint Arab-Islamic summit on Gaza

By Zafer Fatih Beyaz

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday headed to the Saudi capital Riyadh for an extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip.

His plane took off from the Esenboga Airport in Ankara at 9:30 a.m. local time. Erdogan is accompanied by Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, National Intelligence Organization chief Ibrahim Kalin, and Chief Advisor to the President Ambassador Akif Cagatay Kilic.

The oil-rich kingdom was scheduled to host two summits of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Erdogan will attend the 8th Extraordinary Islamic Summit to discuss Israel's attacks on the occupied Palestinian lands, especially Gaza, and the Palestinian people.

Representatives of the Islamic world will exchange ideas about concrete steps to be taken regarding the recent developments.

He is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with the participating leaders.

For days, the Israeli army has been escalating its attacks against hospitals in the Gaza Strip, launching violent raids that led to deaths and injuries, in addition to great concern about the fate of the displaced people in those hospitals.

On Friday evening, Israeli aircraft intensified their attacks against hospitals in the Gaza Strip. They continued their raids in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa Hospital, Indonesian Hospital, Al-Awda Hospital, Al-Quds Hospital and Al-Rantisi Children's Hospital.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip – including hospitals, residences, and houses of worship – since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 11,078 Palestinians have been killed, including 4,506 children and 3,027 women. The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar