‘Israel no longer seen as oppressed nation after Gaza assault’

ISRAEL’S image as an innocent nation that has been oppressed and victimized throughout history has fallen apart following its assault on Gazan civilians, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said Saturday while speaking at the 5th General Assembly of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF) in Istanbul.

“Nothing will be the same from now on. Nothing will go as the Zionist regime and its guardian angels at the United Nations want,” Kurtulmuş said.

Underlining that Israel “committed one of humanity’s biggest massacres,” Kurtulmuş continued: “The reason Israel can do this is not its military power, the West’s support, its financial means, media connections or other factors. Israel’s biggest power is that the Islamic world is not united and is far from a point of cooperation.”

“Therefore, we are obliged to put social and political efforts on this path, which starts with cooperation between Islamic countries and Islamic communities and extends to unity, at the center of all our work.’’

Kurtulmuş underlined that a new period has been launched in the Palestinian cause that will extend to the coming decades. “The upcoming period will be a difficult and arduous period to defend the Palestinian cause and will take years.”

The focal point of efforts from now on should be to isolate Israel on the international agenda, he said, after which the Islamic community must act together.

“The humanitarian front must also be strengthened,” Kurtulmuş continued, reiterating that people all over the world, from Madrid to Paris, London and Washington, must continue to protest for Israel to stop its attacks on civilians in Gaza.

He also pointed out that in Türkiye, hundreds of thousands of people came together in the first hours of the new year and showed a decisiveness that went beyond being a simple protest but was an important step in solidifying the humanitarian front. “Therefore, we have to strengthen this front by embedding all humanity, from all languages, religions, ethnicities, political preferences as well as all kinds of cooperation and works into it.”

On the other hand, Kurtulmuş also pointed out that Israel has become an “exempted” country in international law.

“An exempted country means a country that does not regard law and does not act according to the law,” he highlighted, resembling Israel’s act toward Gazans to that of Hitler toward Jews in the past. “Now, in the same manner, Israel has turned Gaza, which was an open prison, into an open grave.”

Kurtulmuş once again hailed South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel in the U.N. International Court of Justice (ICJ) as a vital step toward accountability.

Since the beginning of the ground operation launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 27, residents have been urged to move from the northern and central areas of the territory to the south, under the pretext of them being safe zones, yet they have not been spared from house, car and hospital bombings. The death toll among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war has surpassed 28,000.

Türkiye and Islamic countries have since harshly criticized the West for shutting their eyes and even supporting Israel’s strikes on Gaza. Humanitarian organizations have similarly been calling for a cease-fire and the passage of aid to the strip.

Although Ankara initially criticized Hamas’ attack on Israel, which started the current conflict on Oct. 7, and engaged in dialogue with Israeli authorities, the country harshened its stance after Israel’s attacks exceeded the limits of self-defense and targeted innocent civilians.

Türkiye has been trying to facilitate diplomatic channels to push for a ceasefire amid incessant Israeli airstrikes, which killed thousands and destroyed hospitals, homes, schools, marketplaces, churches, mosques, refugee camps and more. Furthermore, Türkiye also took part in forming a contact group at a summit of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), assigned to take international action to stop the conflict in Gaza and help achieve lasting peace. It includes officials from Türkiye, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Palestine and the OIC.