Erdoğan discusses Israel-Palestine crisis with Brazil's Lula
Palestinians evacuate a victim following an Israeli airstrike on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, Oct. 17, 2023. (AFP Photo)


President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva discussed the latest developments in the region as Israel continues to indiscriminately bombard the Gaza Strip.

"The call addressed the conflicts that are becoming more and more violent between Israel and Palestine as well as steps aimed at ensuring calm," the Turkish Presidency's Directorate of Communications said on X.

"Sharing with his Brazilian counterpart Türkiye's offers of solution for a lasting peace, Erdoğan said no country should add fuel to the fire, and that concrete steps should be taken by all regarding humanitarian aid within the framework of human rights," it added.

Eleven days into the conflict with Palestinian group Hamas, Israel's bombardment and blockade of the Gaza Strip has continued, with over 1 million people displaced – almost half of Gaza's total population, according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The fighting began when Hamas on Oct. 7 initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a multipronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea and air. It said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased violence by Israeli settlers.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening the living conditions in an area that has reeled under a crippling siege since 2007.

At least 3,061 Palestinians have been killed and 13,750 others have been injured in the ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry in Gaza said.

More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed in the armed conflict.