UPDATE - Israel to be held ‘accountable for crimes against people in Gaza: Türkiye

ADDS QUOTES, BACKGROUND

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - Israel will be held accountable for crimes against people in Gaza, Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said Saturday.

“Israel is a state currently on trial for charges of genocide before the International Court of Justice. No party other than the Israeli Government is responsible for the crimes committed against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Oncu Keceli wrote X.

“Human conscience and international law will hold Israeli officials to account,” Keceli wrote about statements by Israeli government members.

He added that Israeli government members’ efforts to change the agenda cannot “veil these facts. “

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by The Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, in which less than 1,200 people were killed.

At least 30,960 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and 72,524 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza, leaving its population, particularly residents in the north, on the verge of starvation.

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 is 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.