President Erdogan extends condolences to Ismail Haniya over death of sons

Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has extended his condolences to Ismail Haniya, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, over the deaths of several of his family members in an Israeli airstrike, the Turkish Communications Directorate said.

During the phone call on Wednesday, Erdogan said that Israel will be held accountable before the law for its crimes against humanity.

Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz also condemned the attack and conveyed his condolences to Haniya.

”The Israeli administration will eventually be held accountable for these inhumane attacks under international law,” Yilmaz said on X.

He urged the international community to make “sincere efforts” for a ceasefire and establish lasting peace “before more innocent civilians are killed.”

In a phone call, the Turkish parliament speaker also extended condolences to Ismail Haniya.

During the call, Numan Kurtulmus told Haniya that Israel will be held accountable in court for all its crimes against humanity, including bombing hospitals, killing civilians, and subjecting the people of Gaza to famine conditions.

Erdogan’s chief advisor Akif Cagatay Kilic also denounced the attack and offered his condolences.

”I condemn Israel, which continues to massacre innocent people, including children and civilians, even on this holy day,” Kilic said on X.

Three sons of Haniya, along with several of his grandchildren, were killed on Wednesday in an Israeli air strike in a refugee camp in western Gaza City. The Israeli airstrike targeted a car carrying members of the Haniya family in the Shati refugee camp as they were giving good wishes to the camp's residents for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.

Medical sources told Anadolu that the air strike resulted in the deaths of three of Haniya's sons – Hazem, Amir, and Mohammed – as well as several of their children, in addition to injuring others.

Israel has waged a military offensive on Gaza, killing nearly 33,500 people, since an October 7 cross-border attack by Hamas, which killed some 1,200. It has also imposed a crippling blockade on the enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while much of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.

Israel stands accused of genocide by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has urged Israel to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Turkish, US top diplomats discuss humanitarian crisis in Gaza

According to Turkish diplomatic sources, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza on Wednesday.

During a telephone call, Fidan and Blinken also exchanged views on regional security issues. The sources did not disclose additional information about the call. Fidan and Blinken recently held a closed-door meeting in Brussels on the sidelines of a NATO meeting, where they discussed the upcoming visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the US upon the invitation of his counterpart, Joe Biden.