Turkish president says int'l community failing in face of Israel's indiscriminate attacks on civilians

By Muhammed Enes Calli

ISTANBUL (AA) - The International community is failing in the face of Israel's lawless and indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Gaza, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.

In his message on the 78th anniversary of the UN, Erdogan thanked those working under its framework for peace, prosperity, justice, and harmony in the world.

He said humanity was facing a range of problems, including conflicts in Palestine and Ukraine, climate change, hunger, poverty, and Islamophobia.

"Since Oct. 7, we have been witnessing massacres in Gaza that target civilian settlements, places of worship, hospitals, and schools and have reached the level of genocide," the Turkish leader said.

"Unfortunately, the international community is failing in the face of Israel's lawless, indiscriminate attacks on civilians."

He said the UN Security Council was deepening the crisis with a "one-sided approach" rather than stopping the killings, forging a cease-fire, and preventing civilian deaths.

An organization that is a bystander to "collective punishment" of the people in Gaza cannot offer hope to humanity, and ensure peace, stability, he said.

The UN institutions, including the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the UNRWA, are being made dysfunctional by the UN Security Council, Erdogan said. "Another UN agency is doing the most harm to the reputation of the UN."

Nevertheless, he added, Türkiye continues to strongly support and advocate "UN values and the principle of multilateralism, which are at the core of the rules-based global system."

The conflict in Gaza, which has been under Israeli bombardment and a blockade since Oct. 7, began when the Palestinian group Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea and air.

Hamas said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

Nearly 7,200 people have been killed in the conflict, including at least 5,791 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis.

Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been running out of food, water, medicines and fuel, and aid convoys allowed into Gaza have carried only a fraction of what’s needed.

- UN reform

Erdogan said Türkiye has taken steps to strengthen the global role of the UN and contribute to peace and stability, but recent geo-political developments show the need for reform within the international body.

"It is a shared and just expectation of the international community that the UN Security Council be made more representative, democratic, and effective by freeing it from the dominance of a limited number of countries," he said.

With the understanding that "The World is Bigger than Five," Türkiye will continue to contribute to efforts aimed at establishing a more just world order, he added.

Erodgan said thanks to the Black Sea grain deal brokered by Türkiye in collaboration with the UN, 33 million tons of grain products were shipped to world markets, averting the global hunger crisis.