The United Nations should use its authority to invoke the use of armed force to stop Israel’s war in Gaza, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. He sharply criticized the Israeli operation in the Palestinian enclave and airstrikes in Lebanon.
Almost a million Lebanese civilians were displaced due to Israeli attacks, Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting in Ankara.
At least 1,300 people were killed in just over a week, according to the Lebanese authorities.
“Standing up for Palestine and Lebanon means standing up for humanity, for peace, for the culture of coexistence of different faiths,” the Turkish leader said.
In the case of Gaza, the UN General Assembly’s authority to recommend the use of force, as in the 1950 ‘Uniting for Peace’ resolution, must be swiftly invoked.
The 1950 resolution states that, if the UN Security Council fails to maintain international peace, the organization can recommend collective measures up to the use of armed force.
Erdogan accused “handful of radical Zionist extremists” of setting the “region and the whole world on fire.” The international community and the Islamic world should “take action for the peace of everyone in our region, Muslims, Jews and Christians alike,” he urged.
Türkiye cut off trade with Israel earlier this year, promising to continue the boycott until the flow of humanitarian aid into besieged Gaza is fully restored. In addition, Ankara joined South Africa’s ongoing case against Israel in the International Court of Justice, which alleged that the Jewish state was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel launched its invasion of Gaza after Hamas and allied Palestinian armed groups carried out a surprise raid into Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict erupted, according to the Hamas-run authorities in Gaza.
The IDF has recently intensified airstrikes against Hezobollah in Lebanon in response to the pro-Palestinian group’s continued cross-border rocket and mortar attacks. On Tuesday, Israel announced that it began “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids” against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. West Jerusalem said that the operation was necessary to make northern Israel safe for the return of displaced residents who had to flee from Hezbollah attacks.
