Erdoğan says he hopes UN court ruling can halt Gaza violence

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday he hoped a UN court ruling that Israel must prevent acts of genocide in Gaza will halt “inhumane” attacks against civilians, Agence France-Presse reported.

“I find the interim injunction decision taken by the International Court of Justice regarding the inhumane attacks in Gaza valuable and welcome it,” Erdoğan said in a social media statement.

“We hope that Israel’s attacks against women, children and the elderly will come to an end,” he said, adding that Turkey would continue trying to “establish a ceasefire and ensure the path to permanent peace.”

Erdoğan has emerged as one of the Muslim world’s harshest critics of Israel for the massive toll of its reprisal campaign against Hamas militants, who staged an unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7.

Erdoğan had earlier said that Turkey was providing South Africa with documents to support its “genocide” case against Israel at the top UN court.

“We will continue to follow the process to ensure that war crimes committed against innocent Palestinian civilians do not go unpunished,” he said on Friday.