‘Playing with fire’: Turkey slams Israel for expanding Gaza war to West Bank

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has slammed Israel for expanding the war on the besieged Gaza Strip to the occupied West Bank and beyond.

“Israel is not only committing genocide in Gaza, but it is now extending this war to the West Bank, Lebanon, and potentially other nations it deems as enemies which we cannot know or predict,” Fidan said at a joint news conference with his Slovenian counterpart in Ljubljana on Friday.

Noting that the Israeli regime has been carrying out occupation and massacres in the region, Fidan urged the international community to stop Israeli crimes against the oppressed Palestinian people.

The minister reiterated that Israel is committing "genocide" in Gaza, systematically starving people in the besieged strip.

He added that the regime has trampled on all human values ​​by bombing hospitals, mosques, schools, and churches.

"The [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government continues to play with fire. It is endangering the future of the entire region to maintain its position,” Fidan said.

Critics say Netanyahu, who faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three cases filed in 2019, wants to prolong the war in order to achieve his personal interests.

Day 3 of West Bank assault: Israeli forces kill 3 Palestinians

The Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in a drone strike near the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

The Turkish minister also decried Israel’s allies over their “unconditional” support for the regime, despite the committed atrocities in Gaza.

His remarks comes as media reports said earlier this week that the United States has sent 50,000 tons of arms and ammunition to Israel since October 7 when the regime launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.

“Israel's barbarity must finally come to an end,” Fidan said, urging the international community to stop the war in Gaza and the occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East al-Quds, areas Palestinians want for a future independent state, in a 1967 war.

Last month, the United Nations’ top court ruled that Israel’s presence in the 1967-occupied Palestinian territories is “unlawful” and must end.

Praising Slovenia's June decision to recognize Palestine as a state, Fidan said "I believe that we can increase our joint efforts with countries that embrace international law to implement a just and permanent solution in Palestine."

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The regime has so far killed over 40,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.

Since the start of Israel’s aggression on Gaza, the West Bank has also seen a rise in violence from Israeli forces and settlers that claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinians.

In the early hours of Wednesday, the Israeli army conducted its biggest operation – dubbed “Camps of Summer” – in the West Bank in over 20 years, deploying hundreds of troops and airstrikes on Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas, which are major centers of Palestinian resistance against the usurping entity.

At least 20 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids and strikes in several towns, with many more sustained injuries. Eleven of them were killed in Jenin, five in Tulkarm and four in Tubas, Wafa reported, citing medical sources.

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