Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lambasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday for Israel’s attack on the Hamas negotiation team in Qatar last week, saying, “Ideologically, Netanyahu is like a relative of Hitler.”
“Just as Hitler could not foresee the defeat that awaited him, Netanyahu will face the same ultimate fate,” he added while returning from Doha, where he attended an emergency Arab-Islamic summit following the Israeli airstrike according to Anadolu.
Erdogan called the attack on the Hamas negotiation team “a blatant challenge to international order and international law” and said Israel’s leadership has “turned their radical mindset into nothing more than a murderous network built on fascist ideology.”
The Turkish president also addressed Western countries’ recognition of Palestine, saying it would put further pressure on Israel and pledging to raise the issue again at the United Nations.
He expressed hope that “the front of humanity will gain broader support” at the upcoming UN General Assembly.
Lastly, Erdogan also addressed Türkiye’s diplomacy in Libya, emphasizing the protection of the country’s sovereignty and unity. “We are committed to safeguarding Libya’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political unity, and all our actions are guided by these objectives,” he said.
He noted that Türkiye has supported the legitimate Tripoli government from the outset, while recent policies have also sought to open diplomatic channels with eastern Libya. “This reflects Türkiye’s multidimensional diplomatic efforts, regional vision, and commitment to achieving peace,” Erdogan said.
He added that the Benghazi administration’s approval of the maritime jurisdiction agreement signed between Türkiye and Tripoli would be a “significant gain under international law.”
The United Nations has condemned the deadly Israeli military offensive in Gaza City that occurred this past weekend, Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Monday.
The situation “is having an appalling impact on civilians enduring suffering and starvation,” he told journalists in New York.
“The United Nations condemns the deadly escalation of the Israeli military offensive which took place over the weekend across Gaza City, with scores of people reportedly killed or injured,” he said.
“We reiterate our call for the protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel and full respect for international law.”
70,000 more uprooted
In a post on X on Sunday, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said that 10 of its buildings in Gaza City had been hit in the past four days alone, including seven schools and two clinics which were being used as shelters.
Almost 70,000 displaced people have headed south in the past few days, while UN partners counted 150,000 movements from north to south this past month.
Partners further reported that one third of malnutrition treatment facilities in Gaza City have shut down due to forced displacement orders, while the Ministry of Health today reported 425 deaths overall due to malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, about a third of which were children.
A call for ‘unimpeded humanitarian access’
Over the past few days, UN partners have managed to distribute 40,000 additional meals each day. As of Saturday, 558,000 daily meals were prepared and distributed by 20 UN partners to 116 kitchens.
“However, health services continue to be heavily constrained, since clinics have suspended their services due to insecurity and displacement orders,” warned Mr. Dujarric, adding that in Deir Al-Balah, only a few ambulances remain in order and are able to serve the thousands of people in need.
Additionally, 77 per cent of the road networks in Gaza have been damaged and according to UN aid coordination office OCHA, humanitarian aid continues to be obstructed.
On Sunday, only four of the 17 missions that the UN coordinated with the Israeli authorities were facilitated. Seven missions were denied, one of which was meant to deliver water tanks to the north, while another four were impeded in the field, and two were cancelled by the organisers.
Nevertheless, three humanitarian missions were accomplished, including the collection of fuel and food cargo from the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing.
“Our humanitarian colleagues continue to call for unimpeded humanitarian access,” stressed Mr. Dujarric. “Aid should flow at scale through multiple crossings into and within Gaza, including the north,” accoeding to UN News.
The Palestinian Football Association announced Monday that 14-year-old Al-Hilal player Mohammed Ramez Al-Sultan was killed along with 14 members of his family in an Israeli airstrike on their home in the north of Gaza City.
In a statement, the association said the player was killed Friday when Israeli forces struck his family’s house in the Al-Tuwam area.
Al-Hilal Club wrote on the US social media company Facebook’s platform that Al-Sultan was “one of the graduates of the club’s academy accredited by FIFA” and that he was killed alongside his father and relatives, joining teammate Malik Abu Al-Amaren.
On Sept. 6, Abu Al-Amaren, a youth player for Al-Hilal, was shot dead by Israeli forces while waiting for humanitarian aid in northern Gaza.
The killing of Al-Sultan and his family comes amid ongoing Israeli attacks that have wiped out entire Palestinian families in Gaza and claimed the lives of athletes, journalists, doctors and students as part of the broader war targeting all sectors of society.
On Aug. 26, Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestinian Football Association, said Palestinian sports are experiencing an “unprecedented catastrophe” after losing 774 members of the sports community to Israel’s war according to Anadolu.
He noted that the death toll included 355 football players, 277 from other sports federations and 142 scouts, in addition to 119 missing. He added that 15 sports journalists were also killed, while 288 sports facilities in the West Bank and Gaza were either totally or partially destroyed.
Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza has killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians since October 2023 and devastated the enclave, which faces famine.
Israel is facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war in the territory.
Israel’s top army general has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of withholding decisions on the war in Gaza, as new reports indicate thousands of Israeli soldiers have abandoned combat service since the genocidal assault on the enclave began, according to Israeli media.
According to the Anadolu news agency, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Monday that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir told the Knesset’s intelligence subcommittee last week that Netanyahu had not provided clear instructions on the army’s next steps in Gaza, the report said.
“The prime minister doesn’t tell us what comes next, so we don’t know what to prepare for,” the newspaper quoted Zamir as saying.
He added that if the government intends to impose a military administration in Gaza, “they should state it openly.”
GHF Criticized
Zamir also criticized the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, calling it a “failure.”
Despite the expansion of distribution centers from four to 12, Zamir questioned why Israel was enlarging a program that “did not work in the first place.”
“I don’t understand why they are spending money on it and increasing the number of aid centers to 12, if it failed when there were four,” he is quoted by Haaretz as saying.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli attacks on aid seekers at distribution sites have killed more than 2,400 Palestinians and wounded over 18,000.
Morale Crisis
Meanwhile, Haaretz reported that the army is facing an unprecedented morale crisis, with thousands of conscripts leaving frontline units since October 2023. Many were reassigned to non-combat duties or discharged altogether, with officers admitting the scale of withdrawals is without precedent, Anadolu cited the paper as reporting.
Testimonies collected by Haaretz described deep psychological scars among troops, including post-traumatic stress and what military counselors call “moral injuries”- trauma from actions that conflict with personal values. Soldiers spoke of accidental killings of children, snipers ordered to fire on civilians near aid convoys, and repeated suicide attempts in combat brigades.
While the army’s spokesperson has withheld official figures, senior officers told Haaretz the problem is “out of control.”
The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday that the Hostages and Missing Families Forum have demanded a meeting with Zamir over “the threat” that the operation in Gaza City poses to the captives held in the enclave.
20,000 Wounded Soldiers
On Monday, Haaretz reported that around 20,000 soldiers injured in the Gaza onslaught “are being treated by the Defense Ministry Rehabilitation Division, with 55 percent – roughly 10,700 – struggling with mental health issues.”
Citing the Defense Ministry, the paper said” 20 percent of those with mental health issues were also physically wounded, while 45 percent of the veterans registered with the division are dealing with physical injuries only.”
By 2028, the division estimates it will treat “100,000 injured veterans, including 50,000 with mental health injuries.”
Ongoing Genocide
Starting on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military, with American support, launched a genocidal war against the people of Gaza. This campaign has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 64,900 Palestinians, with more than 164,000 wounded. The vast majority of the population has been displaced, and the destruction of infrastructure is unprecedented since World War II. Thousands of people are still missing.
In addition to the military assault, the Israeli blockade has caused a man-made famine, leading to the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians—mostly children—with hundreds of thousands more at risk.
Despite widespread international condemnation, little has been done to hold Israel accountable. The nation is currently under investigation for genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are officially wanted by the International Criminal Court as reported in the Palestine Chronicle.
As Israel intensifies its assault on Gaza City, residents describe relentless bombardment, mass forced displacement, in what they see as an Israeli attempt to wipe out and occupy the city.
Israeli forces have stepped up their assault on Gaza City with a sustained wave of heavy airstrikes, relying on extensive aerial bombardment that has reduced entire neighborhoods, residential buildings, and shelters to rubble.
Here’s what Gaza City residents are saying from the ground, their fears, resistance, and the reality they face as their city is being wipe out by Israel:
“This is the last call. Gaza City is being wiped out,” residents share in social media stories using a widely circulated template.
Mira Abu Amer: “We’re sitting here, hearing the Israeli bombs as they destroy the city, block by block.”
Shadi Jabr: “What’s happening is beyond what we can bear, they’ve destroyed Gaza.”
Eman: “People flee from death to death. We are dying in every possible way. May God’s curse be upon this unjust world. For two years of Israeli genocide, we have raised our voices, but no one listens.”
Mona Hasan: “What’s happening in Gaza right now is horrible, relentless shelling and continuous fire belts with no end in sight!
Aya abo Taqiya: “The situation is tragic. We are literally in the middle of the fire, and even now we’re still asking ourselves: ‘But where can we go?’ Staying where we are now is suicide, a death trap. Displacement to the south means exhaustion, a slow drain, a solitary cell.”
Ahmed Hindi:“I swear to you, we are living through the horrors of the Day of Judgment. What we’re enduring is beyond imagination, no human on this earth could bear it. Save whoever’s left of us… we are dying.”
Journalist Hind Khoudary: “I swear to God, people are lying in the streets with nowhere to go… Some don’t have anything with them at all, completely helpless.”
Karam Naji:“Mass displacement and overwhelming crowds, long hours of walking under relentless bombardment, with exhaustion wearing people down in their desperate search for safety.”
Photographer Mahmoud Hamda: “It is a state of profound despair that people have never experienced before,” according to the Quds News Network.
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