UPDATE - UN Security Council unable to call for cease-fire on Gaza with one voice: Turkish foreign minister

ADDS REMARKS BY TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Wednesday that the UN Security Council was unable to call for an effective cease-fire in the Gaza Strip with one voice.

"Israel’s brutal attacks on Gaza and its population constitute war crimes. We urge all civilized nations to disassociate themselves from those crimes," Fidan told a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.

Fidan said strong global institutions are needed in such dire times to enforce international law and protect the moral compass of humanity.

"Unfortunately, the Security Council which was entrusted by the UN Charter to do so, time and again failed to fulfill its responsibility to maintain international peace and security.

"It was unable to call for an effective cease-fire with one voice," he added.

The Security Council cannot even present a remedy to undo the historical injustice that the Palestinians have been suffering for many decades, he stressed.

"This paralysis will surely reverberate in coping with other global crises and further erode the Council’s credibility in the eyes of humanity. It also wrecks the rule-based international system that the United Nations was established upon.

"Without international law, principles and a moral compass, we are all in uncharted waters. If we don’t fix this problem soon, we will all be haunted yet again by aggravated radicalism of all sorts, which will be feeding on impunity and injustice," he added.

- Türkiye's guarantor proposal for Palestinian-Israeli issue needed

Fidan said millions of people all around the world are rallying in solidarity with Palestine. They expect the Security Council to ensure a cease-fire leading to cessation of hostilities and enable unhindered humanitarian assistance into Gaza, he said.

"We are also following the scenarios about the day after with grave concerns. Those deliberations give further ammunition to Israel to uproot millions of Gazans from their homeland and to impose upon them an oppressive regime.

"Therefore, we should translate this dark episode into an opportunity to address the root cause of the conflict. Otherwise, the symptoms that we see today will be more catastrophic tomorrow," he said.

He reiterated Türkiye's support for a two-state solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict, which includes the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

"Israel and Palestine should be able to live side by side in peace and security along pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Palestine. We also have to make sure that such a settlement will be implemented, unlike past experiences," said Fidan.

Turning to Türkiye's proposal for a guarantor system in the conflict, Fidan said the mechanism would safeguard peace and prevent breaches from any of the parties.

"This could be envisaged in the process leading to the final agreement and become a part of the package.

"From the statements of our many partners, we understand that such a mechanism is indeed needed and supported," he said.

As the Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip entered day 53, Türkiye has been unwavering in its support for Palestine and said it will continue to make efforts to provide all kinds of support to the Palestinian people fully within the scope of humanitarian aid efforts.

Israel launched a massive military campaign in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

It has since killed over 15,000 people, including 6,150 children and 4,000 women, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The official Israeli death toll stands at 1,200.