Muslim nations must act in unison and rally international opposition against Israel’s plan to take control of Gaza City,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday after talks in Egypt.
Regional powers Egypt and Turkey both condemned the plan on Friday. Ankara described it as a new phase in Israel’s genocidal and expansionist policies, calling for global measures to prevent its implementation.
Israel rejects such a description of its actions in Gaza. Speaking at a joint press conference in El Alamein with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty, after meeting with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Fidan said the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation had been called to an emergency meeting.
Fidan emphasized that Israel’s policy aimed to force Palestinians off their lands through hunger, with the goal of permanently invading Gaza. He added that there was no justifiable excuse for nations to continue supporting Israel.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Fidan, speaks during a press conference in Istanbul following the inaugural meeting of the Balkans Peace Platform, a Turkish-led initiative aimed at fostering dialogue and cooperation across the Western Balkans, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 26, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights.
Israel denies having a policy of starvation in Gaza, stating that Palestinian militant group Hamas, which killed 1,200 people in its October 2023 attack, could end the war by surrendering.
“What is happening today is a very dangerous development, not only for the Palestinian people or neighboring countries,” said Abdelatty, calling Israel’s plans “inadmissible.”
Abdelatty stated that there was full coordination with Turkey on Gaza and referred to a statement issued on Saturday by the OIC Ministerial Committee condemning Israel’s plan. The committee called the plan “a dangerous and unacceptable escalation, a flagrant violation of international law, and an attempt to entrench the illegal occupation,” warning that it would “obliterate any opportunity for peace.”
Mediating teams from Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have been working for months to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The OIC urged world powers and the United Nations Security Council to “assume their legal and humanitarian responsibilities and take urgent action to stop” Israel’s Gaza City plan, ensuring immediate accountability for what it described as Israeli violations of international law.
