ANKARA (WNN): Standing alongside Egypt’s top leadership in the coastal city of El Alamein, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan delivered a blunt message to the Muslim world on Saturday: Act together now, or history will judge you for standing by.
Fidan accused Israel of launching a “new phase” in what he called its genocidal and expansionist policies, pointing to the reported plan to seize Gaza City. For him, this is not just about military strategy, it’s about forcing Palestinians from their homeland “through hunger” and making the occupation permanent. He likened it to earlier military campaigns, from Operation Cast Lead in 2008–09 to last year’s Rafah offensive, that many in the region still view as moments of irreversible loss.
“History will not forgive passivity,” Fidan said, revealing that Turkey has already pressed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to convene an emergency meeting.
Israel rejects such accusations, arguing that the current war began with Hamas’s October 2023 attack that killed 1,200 people, and says the fighting would end if Hamas laid down its arms.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty was equally blunt, calling Israel’s Gaza plan “unacceptable” and a danger “far beyond the Palestinian people or neighbouring countries.” He confirmed full alignment between Cairo and Ankara, citing an OIC Ministerial Committee statement that condemned the plan as “a dangerous escalation” and “a flagrant violation of international law”, language echoing the OIC’s stance after the Six-Day War in 1967.
The OIC warned that the proposal would “obliterate any opportunity for peace,” urging world powers and the UN Security Council to step in, halt the plan, and enforce long-standing resolutions, including UNSC Resolution 242, passed more than half a century ago but never implemented.
Behind the scenes, Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have been mediating for months in search of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. But as history shows — in 2012, 2014, and 2021, such truces often collapse under the weight of renewed violence.
Meanwhile, the broader Middle East remains on edge. In Syria’s Druze-majority Suwayda province, a fragile ceasefire has already crumbled, sparking fresh clashes despite diplomatic efforts to calm the situation. The flare-up is a reminder that even as global attention focuses on Gaza, the region’s instability runs deep and far beyond one frontline.
— With Agency Input, WNN Desk
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