Erdogan says cost of Gaza destruction by Israel estimated at $100bn

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the financial cost of the destruction of Gaza by Israel is estimated at $100 billion, Anadolu has reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is responsible for “this heavy bill,” added Erdogan.

“The Israeli administration must first be charged with the destruction it has caused and with this, the reconstruction process in Gaza should be started,” Erdogan said during the Turkiye-Malaysia Strategic Cooperation in the New Century meeting in Kuala Lumpur, alongside Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Instead of looking for a place for Palestinians that he cannot uproot from their land, Netanyahu should look for a source to cover the $100bn in the damage he has caused in the Palestinian enclave, said the Turkish president.

“Homes, lands and workplaces seized by the Israeli state and the ‘rogue’ settlers must be returned to the rightful Palestinian owners,” he added, noting that “nobody” will be able to inflict a second Nakba on the Palestinian people.

Erdogan also said that building a trust-based system that embraces everyone and values differences as a source of richness is not a choice but an obligation. “From the economy to diplomacy, from trade to security, we need a new approach and a new global order to solve problems,” he insisted.

For his part, Anwar said that Turkiye is a country that has increased its national consciousness and honour “significantly”, and has become a geopolitical power.

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