Foreign Ministry spokesman Öncü Keçeli criticized Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz for his statement against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Katz shared a photo of Erdoğan shaking hands with the Palestinian Hamas group’s political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh after a meeting in Istanbul on Saturday, saying that the Turkish president "should be ashamed."

"It is the Israeli authorities who should be ashamed. They have massacred nearly 35,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children," Keçeli said, adding that the Israeli government’s attempts to change the agenda will not yield results.

Keçeli continued by saying that Ankara prioritizes ending the Israeli massacres in Gaza and the formation of a Palestinian state to ensure lasting regional peace.

"We will continue to work in this direction and tell the truth about the crimes committed by the Israeli authorities," he said.

President Erdoğan met with Haniyeh in Istanbul on Saturday, as he stressed the importance of Palestinian unity amid ongoing Israeli attacks.

Erdoğan’s government maintains links with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip. Unlike some European countries and the United States, Türkiye does not classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.