Türkiye’s foreign minister says Israeli violations complicate Gaza peace efforts

By Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Saturday violations by Israel are making efforts to advance a peace plan in the Gaza Strip “incredibly more difficult,” following high-level talks in the US involving officials Egypt and Qatar.

The US, Türkiye, Egypt and Qatar held talks Friday on the Gaza situation in Miami.

The Turkish side was represented by Fidan, who spoke to reporters about a Gaza-focused meeting that had his related contacts.

Stating that considerable time has passed since the implementation of the Gaza Peace Plan, which was launched based on the agreement reached at the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit.

“Now, since the first phase has been completed following the release of the last hostage, the parameters for moving to the second phase are being discussed. Perhaps after Sharm el-Sheikh, yesterday’s meeting was the most important one. Frankly, we continued our meetings in various formats and settings until late last night,” he said.

Fidan, who described the meeting as promising, said the sides also had the opportunity to discuss in detail the problems encountered during the first phase.

“Especially as Türkiye, we clearly stated that ceasefire violations (by Israel) are endangering the peace plan and creating major risks for transitioning to the second phase. The ongoing violations by Israel, in particular, are making the process incredibly more difficult. What we see is that all parties are in agreement on this issue, and we also had various discussions on how to prevent this," he said.

-Most important meeting since Sharm el-Sheikh

“Among the issues we discussed yesterday regarding the transition to the second phase was a preliminary study for the reconstruction of Gaza, which was presented,” he underlined.

“As Türkiye, we stated that three parameters are important for us in any work to be carried out regarding Gaza. First, Gaza must be governed by Gazans; second, Gaza must not be divided territorially in any way; and third, everything done in Gaza must be done for Gazans,” said Fidan.

He noted that significant investment is envisaged for Gaza’s reconstruction, stressing that the investment must benefit Gazans.

Fidan also said discussions were held on possible timelines for transferring Gaza’s administration to a committee composed of technocrats, as well as on the establishment of a Peace Council and parallel talks on forming an International Stability Force.

“I think it was the most important meeting at the highest level since Sharm el-Sheikh,” he said.

Fidan stressed the importance of humanitarian aid, saying Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is particularly sensitive to the issue.

Noting that Türkiye completed a massive housing project of about 500,000 homes within three years after an earthquake that killed 50,000 people on Feb. 6, 2023, in Türkiye, Fidan said that experience could be applied to Gaza.