Turkey Prez Erdogan calls on Israel to cease attacks on Gaza Strip, get out of 'state of insanity'

Earlier on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had conducted an overnight activity in the northern Gaza Strip and struck 150 underground targets, including tunnels and other underground infrastructure.

"The continuing Israeli bombings of Gaza, which intensified last night, have once again targeted women, children and innocent civilians, aggravating the humanitarian crisis. Israel must immediately come out of this state of insanity and stop its attacks," Erdogan said on X (formerly known as Twitter).

The Turkish leader announced a rally to support Palestine at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul to "step up the calls and declare" that Turkey stands together with the Palestinian people "against Israeli oppression."

Notably, Erdogan, who has been leading international supporter of Palestinian rights during his two-decade rule, had been cautious in speaking out at the beginning of Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 when the terror group had taken over 220 hostages and killed more than 1,400 lives.

Meanwhile, Hamas, too, proposed an immediate prisoner swap with Israel even as it asserted that its operatives are ready to confront Israeli attacks with "full force" in Gaza.

On Friday night, Israel launched a massive ground assault in Gaza City, which it said has now "transformed into a battlefield".

The Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza had said its operatives were clashing with Israeli troops in areas near the border with Israel.

Erdogan's right wing Islamic-rooted political party on Saturday organised a huge pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul.

Erdogan said that the rally had drawn 1.5 million people.

He opened a barbed attack at Israel and its Western supporters as he took the stage to address the massive crowd with a microphone in his hand.

"The main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West," Erdogan told the Turkish and Palestinian flag-waving crowd, reported AFP.

"If we leave aside some conscientious voices... the massacre in Gaza is entirely the work of the West."

Erdogan even said that Israel's retaliatory action on Hamas was an act of a "war criminal".

"Of course, every country has the right to defend itself. But where is the justice in this case?" he asked, and went on to accuse Western powers of "shedding tears" over the loss of civilian lives in Ukraine and ignoring the plight of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, said the AFP report.

"We are against all these double standards and all these hypocrisies," he said and alleged that Israel's allies were creating a "crusade war atmosphere" pitting Christians against Muslims, according to the report

"Listen to our call for dialogue," President Erdogan said. "No one loses from a just peace," Erdogen added, the report stated.

(With UNI/Sputnik inputs)