Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has accused the United States and other Western countries of helping Israel commit genocide in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza amid global outrage over its latest deadly attack on displaced Palestinians in Rafah over the weekend, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Forty-five Palestinians sheltering in a refugee camp in Rafah were killed and 200 were wounded in an Israeli airstrike over the weekend, leading to an international outcry. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deadly attack a “tragic incident” that his government is “investigating.”
Turkey, one of the most outspoken critics of the Israeli war on Gaza, was one of the countries that condemned Israel for the tragedy, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan promising on Monday to do “everything possible” to hold “barbaric” Netanyahu to account over deadly strikes in Rafah.
Foreign Minister Fidan also expressed his criticism at a news conference with visiting Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea in Ankara on Tuesday.
Fidan said had not been for the “unconditional” support of Western countries, particularly the US, Israel would not have been able to commit a genocide in Gaza in the first place and perpetuate it.
“Welcoming the genocide of a nation under the pretext of maintaining Israel’s security or defense is unacceptable. This will sure be costly for the international community,” Fidan said, while vowing that Turkey will do its best to stop the massacre of people in Gaza.
Western allies continue to send weapons to Israel and withhold funds from the main United Nations agency working in Gaza, despite the very real threat of famine among its population of roughly 2 million people. Some experts warn that these countries are risking sanctions from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) if they continue to ship arms to Israel.
Israel faces charges of genocide in case brought by South Africa at the ICJ in December.
The minister also said he believes Israel eventually will give an account of its actions before international courts.
Far-right leader calls for arrest warrant for Israeli officials
Meanwhile, Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), an ally of Erdoğan, called on Turkish authorities to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant due to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Bahçeli, who spoke at a party meeting on Tuesday, said those who support Israel’s ongoing “genocide” in Gaza or remain silent about it are against world peace, like Israel.
The Gaza Strip is suffering a humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s military campaign against Hamas that has been going on since October 7, with the United Nations and aid agencies warning of impending famine.
The war started with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the death of roughly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and some 250 people taken hostage.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 36,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry, and has devastated the Gaza Strip.
Turkey accuses the Israeli government of committing “war crimes” and “genocide” in the enclave. In early May Turkey’s Trade Ministry announced that it was suspending all trade with Israel until it allows aid to enter Gaza unhindered during its offensive against Hamas militants.