Erdoğan breaks off contact with Israeli PM Netanyahu over Gaza attacks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Saturday he will break off contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the attacks in Gaza.

“Netanyahu is no longer someone we can talk to. We have written him off,” Turkish media quoted Erdogan.

Erdogan’s remarks came after Israel said it was “re-evaluating” its relations with Ankara because of Türkiye’s heated rhetoric regarding Israel’s war crimes in Gaza.

Jordan and Bahrain have both recalled their ambassador to Israel in response to the unrelenting Israeli attacks on Gazan civilians.

Erdoğan, however, said that Türkiye was not breaking off diplomatic relations with Israel.

“Completely severing ties is not possible, especially in international diplomacy,” he said.

He explained that Netanyahu bore the primary responsibility for the violence and had “lost the support of his own citizens”.

“What he needs to do is take a step back and stop this,” he added.

The Israeli bombardment on Gaza killed more than 9,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children in less than a month.