Turkey’s Erdogan calls Israel a ‘Zionist terrorist organisation’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Israel a “Zionist terrorist organisation” over its attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, and repeated his criticism of Western powers – namely the United States – over the support given to Israel.
“History will never forgive those who applaud the monster responsible for the blood of tens of thousands of Palestinian children, women, civilians,” said Turkey’s leader.
Speaking to lawmakers from his ruling AK Party in parliament, Erdogan also said the cross-border fire between Israel and Iran in recent days has heightened the risk of a regional conflict.
“Considering the atmosphere in our region, we believe that we need to talk more, we need reconciliation.”
AIPAC has US politicians ‘in a stranglehold’
Mohamad Elmasry, a professor of media studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, says that the US has enough leverage over Israel to control its policy in the region.
“It’s more a situation of the US being unwilling to exercise its leverage,” he told Al Jazeera.
Elmasy said that support for Israel is a “difficult calculation” for the US. “On the one hand, the US long ago married itself to Israel for strategic reasons – the US wants a strong ally in the Middle East,” he said, adding that US politicians have to contend with the power of the pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC.
“They have US politics in a stranglehold and they are able to wield a lot of influence over individual politicians … there’s no politician that wants to draw the ire of AIPAC,” he said.
“There is no indication at this point that the US is going to change course.”
‘Unify efforts’: Hamas, Fatah leaders discuss Gaza war in Cairo meeting
Senior leaders of Hamas and the rival Palestinian group Fatah are meeting in Egypt’s capital to discuss Israel’s war on Gaza and national unity efforts.
Hamas said in a short statement the talks are focusing on “the aggression on the Gaza Strip, political and field developments, and to unify national efforts and ranks”.
Senior political bureau member Khalil al-Hayya is representing Hamas, while Fatah is represented by Mahmoud al-Aloul, deputy chairman of the Palestinian faction.
Hamas took over control of the Gaza Strip after a brief but bloody war with Fatah in 2007, while the Palestinian Authority continues to be dominated by Fatah. The two groups joined other Palestinian factions in Beijing in July to sign an agreement to work towards national unity.
Spanish PM calls Israeli attacks in Lebanon an ‘invasion’
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez describes Israel’s military offensives in Lebanon as an “invasion”, saying that the international community had to act.
“It is clear that there has been an invasion by a third country of a sovereign state such as Lebanon, and therefore, the international community cannot remain indifferent,” the Socialist premier told parliament.
“We denounced (this situation) in Ukraine, we also denounce it in Gaza and now we are also denouncing the invasion of Lebanon,” he added.
Sanchez is one of the most outspoken critics among European Union leaders of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023,
He has angered Israel by saying he had “serious doubts that Israel is complying with international humanitarian law” in Gaza and under his watch Madrid in May recognised a Palestinian state.
Sanchez also expressed his regret at the “lack of agreement within the European Union” on the situation in the Middle East.
“I regret this because I believe that on these issues, we should be consistent not with our position, but consistent with the defence of international law and international humanitarian law,” he said.
