Ankara condemned Israel early Saturday amid complete cut off of communication channels in Gaza.
"Israel is showing once again that it is not interested in protecting civilians or respecting basic human rights. The complete cutoff of landline, mobile, and internet communications in the Gaza Strip signals the latest stage in Israel’s military campaign against Palestinians," said Türkiye's Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun in a message he shared on X, previously known as Twitter.
"While the Israeli military continues its most intense airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, which has been under siege since October 7th, its simultaneous effort to destroy communications is a blatant attack on the most fundamental human rights and values," Altun added.
Communications and internet services in the Gaza Strip were completely cut off on Friday evening amid heavy Israeli bombing of feeder lines, towers, and networks, the Palestine Telecommunications Company said.
Ooredoo Palestine, a mobile provider in the West Bank, said its cellphone services were completely cut off from the Gaza Strip.
"Israel's blackout, intended to prevent all international communication channels connecting Gaza to the outside world, clearly indicates an intent to commit war crimes. This is an attempt to hide the ugly truth of Israeli destruction of civilian lives."
Altun also said the Western countries' inaction "renders them complicit in this crime."
"Those who oppose any restrictions on Israel’s ability to attack indiscriminately and without any consequences must take another look at where they stand. They must realize that their enabling stance in these horrible days will go down as a permanent stain in their history. I strongly condemn Israel for ignoring the basic rights and freedoms of the people in Gaza and the rest of Palestine. This must stop at once. The world powers supporting these atrocities have no moral high ground to lecture anyone from now on."
