Turkey condemns Israel’s disproportionate use of force

Turkish Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned Israel’s disproportionate use of force against Palestinians in recent violence in the volatile region.

About Israeli force’s insistence in “practices contrary to the status quo”,  Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that it was “concerned about the possible spread to Gaza of escalating tensions”, following the loss of civilian lives in Israel’s airstrikes Sunday.

Turkey called on Israel “to comply with international law on the Palestinian lands it holds under occupation” and in this framework to “immediately put an end to its provocative arbitrary practices targeting the status and the sacredness of Haram al-Sharif [Al-Aqsa Mosque], as the only way to prevent the escalation of tensions”.

An Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Sunday killed a Palestinian woman and her daughter, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah.

The Israeli military claimed the airstrike was in response to an alleged rocket attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip on Saturday night.

Turkish Foreign Ministry recalled that the recent tensions in the region began with Israeli security forces entering Al-Aqsa Mosque to clash with Muslim groups and later preventing them from entering the mosque in September.

The ministry said that tensions continued to escalate when Israel placed a ban on Palestinians from entering Eastern Jerusalem and West Bank; then Israeli forces opening fire on protesters at the border and later Israel carrying out airstrikes Sunday, which led to the loss of Palestinian lives.

Israeli security forces shot dead three Palestinians as a series of alleged stabbing attacks continued in Jerusalem on Monday. According to Palestinian Health Ministry figures, Monday’s deaths bring the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the start of October to 27.