Turkiye ties Israel’s place in regional platform to Palestinian statehood

ANKARA: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said Israel could be included in a regional cooperation platform if it recognises a Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders, according to an Al Jazeera report cited by Nikkei Asia.

Fidan said the proposed framework could bring together Pakistan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Gulf countries, adding that Iran could also join later if conditions normalise. He linked the idea to broader regional security arrangements and said the countries involved should commit to respecting one another’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and security.

"If that problem is solved, I think the security of Israel will be very much assisted by the regional countries, too," Fidan said while speaking to Nikkei Asia

"All the countries in the region should be committing to each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and security," he also said.

His remarks came as Turkiye is expected to host a Nato summit in Ankara in July. The comments also followed US President Donald Trump’s statement on Monday outlining his vision for widening the Abraham Accords, the normalisation agreements between Israel and several Arab countries.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said countries in the region should be required to join the accords simultaneously. He listed six countries, including Turkiye and Egypt, which already maintain formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

Gaza toll rises

Separately, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said the death toll from Israel’s war on the enclave had reached 72,938 since Oct 7, 2023, while 172,919 people had been wounded.

In its latest update, the ministry said hospitals received seven bodies in the previous 24 hours, including six people killed in recent Israeli attacks and one person who later died of earlier wounds. 25 injured people were also taken to medical facilities during the same period.

According to the ministry, since a ceasefire took effect on Oct 11, Israeli attacks have killed 929 Palestinians and wounded 2,811 others. 781 bodies had been recovered during that period as rescue teams continued searching areas that had previously remained inaccessible because of military operations and destruction.

At least 260 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, describing it as the deadliest conflict for media workers. More than 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza have been internally displaced, many of them multiple times, while over 1.2 million people — nearly 60 per cent of the population — have lost their homes.