Turkey calls for international conference to reach peace for Palestine

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that an international peace conference should be convened to find a permanent solution to Israel's war on Gaza and occupied Palestinian territories.

Erdogan was addressing a joint Islamic-Arab summit in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh, where leaders gathered to urge Israel to end hostilities in Gaza.

"Israel is taking revenge...on Gazan babies, children and women," Erdogan said, renewing his call for an immediate ceasefire. "What is urgent in Gaza is not pauses for few hours, rather we need a permanent ceasefire."

On the sidelines of the summit, Erdogan held bilateral talks with leaders including Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Erdogan told his counterparts that Turkey was ready to collaborate in delivering humanitarian aid and health services to Gaza, the Turkish presidency said.

"We cannot put Hamas resisters defending their homeland in the same category as the occupiers," Erdogan said.

In an interview with the BBC, French President Emmanuel Macron urged Israel to stop killing women and babies and called for a ceasefire. He said it’s impossible to fight terrorism by killing innocent people pic.twitter.com/79BMGIIGA9

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) November 11, 2023

A permanent solution to the Gaza-Israel conflict depends on the formation of a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, Erdogan said.

"We believe that an international peace conference will provide the most suitable basis for this. We are ready to make the necessary efforts, including as a guarantor, to preserve the peace to be established in this context," he said.

Israel's Heritage Minister Amihay Eliyahu's remarks on the idea of Israel carrying out a nuclear strike on Gaza revealed the existence of Israel's nuclear weapons, Erdogan said, calling for an international investigation.

"If there are nuclear bombs that were hidden from the examination of the International Atomic Energy Agency, they should be revealed as well," Erdogan said.

Israel does not publicly acknowledge it has nuclear weapons though the Federation of American Scientists estimates Israel has about 90 nuclear warheads.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended Eliyahu from cabinet meetings "until further notice" after his comments.