Referring to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the ‘butcher of Gaza’, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that he will be tried as a war criminal over Israel’s ongoing ‘offensive’ in the Gaza Strip.
In a speech at a meeting of an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) committee in Istanbul, Erdogan said that Gaza is Palestinian land and will always belong to the Palestinians.
“Israel is not only a murderer but also a thief,” Erdogan said, adding “We cannot let Israel occupy Gaza once again.”
According to Turkish state media, Erdogan charged that “those who invade Gaza will seek other places tomorrow. Gaza butcher Netanyahu revealed he has expansionist ideals.”
In October, Erdogan had said that Hamas was not a terrorist organization but rather “freedom fighters.” In November, the Turkish President said that Israel was a “terror state.”
On Saturday, after a temporary ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic terror group Hamas ended when the terror group launched rockets into Israel, the Turkish president was quoted as saying that “there was an opportunity for peace [in Gaza], and unfortunately, we have lost this opportunity for now due to Israel’s uncompromising approach.”
