Turkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (the AK Party) spokesman Omer Celik has said that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to turn Lebanon into a new Gaza. Celik made his comment to reporters following the party’s Central Executive Committee meeting, which was chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday.
The party spokesman pointed out that Israel’s genocide has been committed in Gaza before the eyes of the international community for an entire year. Around 70 per cent of those killed by the occupation state, he added, were women and children.
Celik criticised the positions of Western governments. “Until now, various condemnations and protests have been issued, but as we can see, there is a large gap between the governments and the people, especially in Western societies. While the people in the West are trying to protect [the Palestinians in] Gaza, their governments are unfortunately supporting genocidal policies.”
Nevertheless, the AK Party official praised the positions adopted by some Western leaders. “The leaders of countries such as Spain and Belgium went to the Rafah border crossing and supported the Palestinian people there. Later, Spain recognised the Palestinian state.”
He noted that Israel had gone so far as to threaten the International Court of Justice and other institutions, and to declare UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “persona non grata”.
“Today, we are facing the activities of the network of killers, the network of genocide that seeks to turn Lebanon into a new Gaza. Moreover, the rhetoric of the international media praises the massacres and ignores the genocide committed by Israel, and even tries to cover it up.”
Israel has carried out its genocide with the full backing of the US. The Israeli army has killed 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, and wounded 97,500 more. An estimated 11,000 are missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes and other civilian infrastructure destroyed by the occupation state.
The far-right government in Tel Aviv continues to ignore the UN Security Council resolution to end its genocide immediately, and the orders of the International Court of Justice to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Since 23 September, apartheid Israel has expanded the scope of its genocide in Gaza to include most areas of Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, through intensive air strikes. It has also begun a ground invasion in the south of Lebanon, disregarding international warnings and UN resolutions.
READ: Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh called on to intensify efforts to stop genocide in Gaza and Lebanon