UPDATE 2 - Massacre in Gaza should end as soon as possible, says Turkish foreign minister

UPDATE WITH BACKGROUND

By Zehra Nur Duz and Sumeyye Dilara Dincer

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday stressed the massacre in Gaza should end as soon as possible.

During a meeting with his US counterpart Antony Blinken in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, Fidan said pressure should be exerted on Israel for an end to the massacre, a permanent cease-fire, and delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

In the meeting, Fidan and Blinken discussed the latest situation in Gaza, according to diplomatic sources.

The current situation in Ukraine and bilateral relations between Ankara and Washington were also discussed.

Fidan and Blinken met on the margins of the meeting of the Contact Group on Gaza, being held on the sidelines of the two-day World Economic Forum, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on X.

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Palestinian enclave since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

Nearly 34,500 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 77,600 others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, 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.

*Writing by Esra Tekin