Turkey‘s president has warned he is ready to deploy his forces to Israel as he accused Benjamin Netanyahu of doing “ridiculous things to Palestine“.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to replicate previous operations in Libya and Nagorno-Karabkh and send troops to counter the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Mr Erdogan has been a vocal critic of Netanyahu’s actions and argued Turkey would need to maintain a “very strong” stance to stop Israel.
He said: “We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these ridiculous things to Palestine.
“There is no reason why we cannot do this… We must be strong so that we can take these steps.”
The Turkish leader, however, did not expand or clarify what steps his country would be willing to take to stop the military operation against Palestine.
Antalya previously deployed its forces to support Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, whose government is officially recognised by the United Nations.
Turkey has denied any direct role in the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh but noted it would use “all means” to back its allies in Azerbaijan.
Mr Erdogan has maintained a strong stance against Israel since the start of the war against Hamas and earlier this year appealed to Islamic nations to advocate for the cessation of the hostilities.
He said in May: “I have some words to say to the Islamic world: what are you waiting for to take a common decision?’
“Israel is not just a threat to Gaza but to all of humanity. No state is safe as long as Israel does not follow international law and does not feel bound by international law.”
Netanyahu has faced growing protests both at home and abroad over his ongoing military operations in the Gaza Strip – and reports of growing violence in the occupied West Bank.
US officials last week said Israel and Hamas agree on the basic framework of the three-phase peace deal.
But Netanyahu in his speech to the US Congress vowed to press ahead with the war until “total victory.”
The war in Gaza has killed more than 39,200 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
The UN estimated in February that some 17,000 children in the territory are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since.
On Saturday night, Israelis again held an anti-government demonstration in Tel Aviv demanding a cease-fire deal and the return of remaining hostages.
