Turkish Foreign Minister Stresses Efforts to Prevent Gaza War Expansion After Talks in Beirut
(AWP) - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday that his country was doing everything in its power to prevent the war in Gaza from spreading to other countries, stressing there will be no chance for peace without the establishment of a “Palestine state.”
Fidan said, in a joint press conference with Abdallah Bou Habib, Foreign Minister in the Lebanese caretaker cabinet, in Beirut, “We are doing our best to prevent the expansion of the war in Gaza and its spread to other countries. I have announced in my contacts with Egypt that we were in total agreement with them on this topic.”
Fidan continued, “This war could lead to very large and destructive wars. At the same time, it could provide an opportunity for a historic solution. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan believes that we can get out of this crisis with peace.”
He stressed that “there will be no chance for peace in the region without the establishment of a Palestine state.”
Bou Habib, the Lebanese Minister, said Israel must stop its “provocations” on the border between the two sides, reiterating the call for “wise people all over the world” to press Israel to end the war.
“In Lebanon, we are not advocates of war and want calm and stability. But Israel must stop provocations on the southern borders,” he said.
Bou Habib continued, “The increasing Israeli provocations on our southern borders, the deliberate killing of reporters and civilians, the targeting of Lebanese army posts and UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) positions and the shelling of villages inhabited by civilians are all actions that add fuel to the fire, flagrantly violate Resolution 1701 and cause tension which could lead to further escalations that would be hard to contain.”
Tension escalated on the border of Israel and Lebanon after repeated mutual shelling and clashes in the region since Hamas and other Palestinian factions waged a surprise attack on Israeli towns and settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip early last week.
Earlier on Tuesday, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said several people were wounded in an Israeli raid on border areas during the night, while the Israeli army said it had bombed the “military infrastructure of Hezbollah in Lebanon.”