Killing children is not self-defense: Turkish official destroys Israeli narrative

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) – Calling out the international community for its silence on Israel’s “brutal attacks” on Palestinians, Turkey’s deputy foreign minister on Saturday rejected the notion that Israel was acting in “self-defense.”

“Today is 6th day of #Israel's brutal attacks on #Palestinians. 139 Palestinians, including 40 children, were killed in 6 days. Yet, international community is silent,” Yavuz Selim Kiran said on Twitter.

“Some even declare solidarity w/ Israel for “self-defense”. Since when [does] “self-defense” means “killing children”?” he added.

At least 139 people, including dozens of children and women, have been killed and 950 more injured since Israel started attacks on Gaza last Monday.

The air raids on Gaza were preceded by days of tensions and Israeli aggression in occupied East Jerusalem, where hundreds of Palestinians were assaulted by Israeli forces and settlers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Tensions spread from occupied East Jerusalem to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups there vowed to retaliate for Israeli assaults if they were not halted.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.