Türkiye on Friday called on the international community to prevent Israel’s plans to “take control” of Gaza City under a plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Every step taken by the fundamentalist Netanyahu government to continue its genocide and expand its occupation deals a heavy blow to global peace and security,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Calling Israel's move an attempt to render Gaza uninhabitable and forcibly displace Palestinians from their land, the ministry said Türkiye "strongly condemns" Israel’s decision.
It stressed that lasting peace in the region can only be achieved through respect for international law, prioritization of diplomacy, and protection of fundamental human rights.
Under the plan to "defeat" Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army "will prepare to take control of Gaza City," Netanyahu’s office said Friday.
“Israel must immediately halt its war plans, agree to a cease-fire and begin negotiations for a two-state solution,” the Turkish statement said.
It called on the international community to “carry out its responsibility to prevent this plan’s implementation” and urged the U.N. Security Council to take binding decisions against Israel.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was set to travel to Egypt on Saturday for a series of talks with senior officials on Israel’s plans. Fidan will "evaluate joint efforts to end the genocide in Gaza and allow the unhindered access of humanitarian aid into Gaza, emphasize that the occupying Israel's actions targeting a two-state solution and its latest steps toward the annexation of Gaza are the biggest obstacle to regional peace and stability," his office said Friday.
Before the decision, Netanyahu said Israel planned to take full control of Gaza but did not intend to govern it.
He told U.S. network Fox News on Thursday that the military would seize complete control of the Gaza Strip, noting that Israel did not want "to keep" the territory, which it occupied in 1967 but withdrew troops and settlers from in 2005.
Netanyahu said Israel wanted a "security perimeter" and to hand the Palestinian territory to "Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us."
"That's not possible with Hamas," he added.
His office on Friday said a majority of the security cabinet had adopted "five principles," including demilitarization of the territory and "the establishment of an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority."
An unspecified "alternative plan" was rejected by the cabinet, it added.
The Israeli army said last month that it controlled 75% of the Gaza Strip, mainly from its positions in the territory along the border.
An expanded Israeli offensive in Gaza could see ground troops operate in densely populated areas where hostages are believed to be held, Israeli media have reported.
Nations around the world expressed concern over Israeli plans to wrest control of Gaza City, saying that it would only worsen the conflict and lead to more bloodshed. U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk said the plan must be "immediately halted." He said that Israel should instead allow "the full, unfettered flow of humanitarian aid" and Palestinian armed groups must unconditionally release hostages.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the plan was "wrong" and added that "this action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages," but would "only bring more bloodshed."
"Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and is an inseparable part of Palestinian territory," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in a message. "The correct way to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to secure the release of hostages is an immediate cease-fire," they added.
Germany will halt the export of military equipment to Israel, which could be used in the Gaza Strip, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said.
Merz said it was "increasingly difficult to understand" how the Israeli military plan would help achieve legitimate aims and added: "Under these circumstances, the German government will not authorize any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip until further notice."
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said: "We firmly condemn the decision of the Israeli government to escalate the military occupation of Gaza. It will only cause more destruction and suffering."
He added that "a permanent cease-fire, the immediate and massive entry of humanitarian aid, and the release of all hostages are urgently needed."
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned Israel's decision to occupy the Gaza Strip, saying it revealed the true nature of its war, "an unjustified campaign against Palestinian civilians."
"This decision reveals that the Israeli war was never defensive; it has always been a war of extermination and forced displacement against the people of Gaza," the ministry said, warning of the "certain death" of civilians remaining in the strip.
Israel has been facing mounting outrage over its destructive war on Gaza, where more than 61,200 people have been killed, mostly women and children, since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its war on the enclave.
