By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL-Turkish President Erdogan in a flurry of diplomacy, having met with 18 leaders of nations about the Gaza crisis, has declared by presidential decree, a three-day national mourning period in Turkiye for the over 500 people killed in a strike at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Turkiye joins Egypt and Lebanon who have also declared a period of mourning as well. Erdogan has been extremely vocal about Israel’s relentless bombing in Gaza, going so far as to call cutting off all electricity, water and gas a war crime. As Erdogan’s AK Party Spokesperson Omer Celik told reporters in Ankara: “This expresses that Turkiye stands with the innocent in Palestine.” He added, “This loss, whose pain we share, is also our loss.”
Meanwhile, on Wednesday while U.S. President Joe Biden met with Israeli leader Netanyahu, there were numerous protests worldwide in condemnation of the hospital bombing which is being blamed on Israel. Biden said that preliminary intelligence reports show that it was not an Israeli airstrike that hit the hospital but an errant Palestinian rocket fired from the Gazan side. Numerous politicians and Human Rights Watch are labeling the hospital blast a war crime. Thousands of Palestinians were at the hospital when the building came under bombardment, according to reporters on the ground in Gaza. Israel’s bombing campaign on Gaza has NGOs and world leaders condemning Israel’s bombing on healthcare facilities, residences and houses of worship. They all said Israel’s actions violate international law and could be actual war crimes. The situation in Gaza is dire with hospitals being forced to shut down within 48 hours when the power runs out. With no food, fuel, medical supplies or water, Gazans are in a state of desperation with dwindling hope as each day passes. Biden said that Egypt’s president has agreed to open the border crossing with the aim of getting as many trucks carrying aid out as possible.
Israel is blaming Palestinian resistance groups for the explosion they claim came from within Gaza and Biden has said though it appears to be the case, an investigation is still ongoing Biden said on Wednesday to fully investigate exactly who fired the blast that attacked the hospital. In a speech on Wednesday, Biden said though he acknowledges Israeli rage about the brutal attack by Hamas on October 7, he cautioned that they must not get caught up in such a rage. On his way back to the U.S., Biden spoke to the press about the very long negotiations he said he had with Netanyahu and El-Sisi, separately. As Biden remarked: “We have to bear in mind that Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people and has brought them only suffering.”
Photo : AA
