Turkey urges Israel to end attacks on Gazans

ANKARA

Turkey’s presidential spokesperson on Tuesday called on Israel to stop its attacks on Gazans and for the international community to take responsibility in response to Israel's recent attacks.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency in the capital Ankara, Ibrahim Kalin said: “These attacks have once again shown Israel’s unlawful, tyrannical, and occupying stance.”

“These attacks on the Gazan people should be immediately stopped. The international community, which has kept silent about the Israeli attacks, should take responsibility and act," he said.

Kalin said the whole world should reject Israel's occupying and expansionist policies, which seek to turn Palestinian soil into an open-air prison.

Championing a two-state solution for the Palestinian issue, Kalin said: “It is clear that the existing Israeli government does not believe in a two-state solution and is working to sabotage the process.”

He added: “It is impossible to accept a solution which does not consider the independence and security of the Palestinian people. The Palestinians are neither alone nor helpless.”

Turkey will continue to stand by the Palestinian people's just cause, he said.

Five Palestinians were martyred in renewed Israeli attacks in Gaza on Tuesday and Monday following rocket fire from the seaside territory. The Israeli army said more than 20 people were injured by rocket fire.

Monday’s attacks came one day after seven Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in an undercover Israeli operation in the blockaded enclave.

Since March, more than 200 Palestinians have been martyred and thousands more injured by Israeli army fire during protests demanding the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their ancestral home in what is now Israel.

Reporting by Enes Kaplan:Writing by Nilay Kar