Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said Israel is an occupier, adding that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation.

“Israel has been openly committing war crimes for 22 days, but the Western leaders cannot even call on Israel for a ceasefire, let alone react to it,” Erdogan said while addressing hundreds of thousands of Muslims at one of the largest pro-Palestinian rallies in Istanbul.

“We will tell the whole world that Israel is a war criminal. We are making preparations for this. We will declare Israel a war criminal,” he added.

Erdogan also said that Hamas was not a terrorist organization, describing Israel as an occupier.

Unlike many NATO allies, the European Union and some Gulf states, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organisation.