Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a fierce critic of Israel's actions in Gaza, said there would be serious consequences if Israel continued to threaten attacks on Hamas operatives on Turkish soil, and said his country had petitioned to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials for alleged war crimes in Gaza, the Guardian reported.
The Turkish president's comments echoed warnings from other Turkish officials in response to the head of Israel's Shin Bet domestic security agency, who said in an audio recording that his organization was ready to destroy Hamas "anywhere," including in Turkey.
Regarding the legal steps, Erdogan said: "We have put the war crimes committed in Gaza on the agenda of the court and we will follow it. Netanyahu will not be able to avoid paying the penalty for his actions. Sooner or later he will be tried and paid the price for his war crimes".
Turkey's head of state also rejected comments made in Israel about the future of Gaza, saying the buffer zone plans handed over by Israel to several Arab states and Turkey were "disrespectful" to the Palestinians.
Erdogan said the future of Gaza after the war would be decided by the Palestinian people and that Israel should return the territories it occupied. He also stated that Western support for Israel, specifically from the US, has led to the current situation in the region./BGNES
