Türkiye's envoy to Czechia, more widely known in English as the Czech Republic, urged an immediate cease-fire to end the suffering of Palestinian people, who are currently experiencing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe amid Israel's ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Ambassador Egemen Bağış made the call at the meeting on the Israel-Palestine issue, hosted by Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky. The participants of the meeting included the ambassadors of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries.
"I am happy to inform you that despite their differences on other issues, all members of the OIC as well as the members of the Arab League are fully united when it comes to helping Palestine. However, this is neither an Arab issue nor a Muslim issue. The issue at hand is a humanitarian tragedy," said Ambassador Bağış, chairing the group formed by envoys of the OIC member countries in Prague, during the meeting at the Foreign Ministry.
Touching on the ongoing bloodshed in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, despite rising criticism of Israeli attacks and its extremist rhetoric, he stressed that last month’s interim ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is a sign that Israel must stop its massacres.
Noting that 70% of the 27,000 Palestinians killed by Israel are women and children, Bağış stressed that a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders is the only solution for all Palestinians and Israelis to live in safety.
Bağış warned of the risk of the tension spreading to other countries in the region and said that it is of urgent importance to implement an immediate cease-fire and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave.
On ties between Tel Aviv and Prague, Bağış demanded that Czechia take action to end the humanitarian tragedy, adding that they call on Prague to persuade Israel to respect international law and human rights.
Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 cross-border offensive by Palestinian group Hamas have killed more than 27,000 people, besides causing mass destruction and suffering. About 1,200 were killed in the initial Hamas attacks.
The Turkish ambassador also thanked the Czech government, the Czech people, and the other attending countries at the meeting for the support and solidarity shown to Türkiye in the aftermath of the devastating twin earthquakes, as the country marks the first anniversary of the disaster.
Catastrophic twin earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 shook southern Türkiye and northern Syria on Feb. 6, 2023, destroying thousands of buildings and killing 53,500 people.
