Türkiye welcomes Palestinian resistance group Hamas' acceptance of the Gaza cease-fire proposal, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday.
Speaking to reporters following a cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara, Erdoğan said Türkiye welcomes the announcement, with its efforts.
He continued by saying that Israel should take the same step and accept the cease-fire and hostage-release proposal.
"I call on all Western actors to put pressure on the Israeli administration [in this regard]," the president said.
"We spoke on the phone with Ismail Haniyeh, the Political Bureau Chief of Hamas, prior to our Cabinet meeting. During our conversation with Haniyeh, we discussed efforts to end the conflicts and violence in Gaza," Erdoğan said on X.
He added that they assessed Hamas' acceptance of the cease-fire proposal received through intermediaries.
"In the phone call where I expressed that we find Hamas's decision, influenced by Türkiye's suggestions, positive, we emphasized that Israel also needs to take steps for a permanent cease-fire," Erdoğan further said.
Erdoğan also called on all parties, particularly Western countries, to exert "necessary pressure" on Israel for a cease-fire.
Hamas said in a statement on Monday that it has agreed to a proposed cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, and its chief Haniyeh conveyed his group's approval of the proposal during phone calls with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.
The approval came in the wake of Israeli forces issuing evacuation orders for Palestinians in eastern Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, a step widely seen as a prelude to Israel's long-threatened attack on the city, home to some 1.5 million Palestinians seeking refuge from the war.
Egypt's state-run Al-Qahera News channel, citing a well-placed source, said early Monday that a Hamas delegation will arrive in Cairo early Tuesday to continue Gaza cease-fire talks.
The Hamas delegation left the Egyptian capital on Sunday after a two-day round of cease-fire talks for consultations with the group's leadership.
Ankara has been a vocal critic of Israel since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7 and a staunch defender of the Palestinian cause. It has accused Israel of carrying out war crimes and genocide in Gaza. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan describes Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, as freedom fighters.
Türkiye has also floated a guarantorship model for the conflict, which several Palestinian officials have welcomed.
Nearly 34,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 78,000 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities. About seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the U.N.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop "genocidal acts" and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians there.
