Erdogan Says US Has “Historic Responsibility” To Ensure Gaza Ceasefire

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said the US has a “historic responsibility” to ensure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, warning of the “negative regional and global consequences” of the conflict.

The Turkish leader spoke on the phone with US President Joe Biden in their first talks since October 7, when an unprecedented attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas group sparked the more-than two month war.

Hamas gunmen stormed across the border from Gaza into Israel and killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to the Israeli officials.

Aiming to eliminate Hamas, Israel launched a retaliatory military offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 18,700 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

“President Erdogan stated that the intensification and prolongation of Israeli attacks could have negative regional and global consequences,” the Turkish Presidency said in a statement  after the phone call.

“Withdrawal of the United States’ unconditional support for Israel can guarantee a rapid ceasefire,” it added.

Erdogan has been one of the Muslim world’s most vocal critics of Israel’s military tactics in Gaza.

He has referred to Israeli leader Netanyahu as “the butcher of Gaza” and branded Israel a “terror state”.

During the phone call, Erdogan asserted that “the United States has a historic responsibility to ensure a permanent ceasefire in the region as soon as possible”.

President Biden has strongly backed Israel but on Tuesday he issued his strongest criticism yet, warning that Israel risked losing global support over “indiscriminate bombing”.

The White House on Thursday said it wanted the war to end “as soon as possible,” after Israel’s defence minister told a top US official it would last several months more.