Palestine deeply cares about relations with Türkiye and always maintains high-level consultation with it, the Palestinian ambassador to Ankara said Monday.
Addressing reporters at a press briefing under the theme of "2023: Year of challenges the State of Palestine faces under Israel’s far-right government," Faed Mustafa revealed his office delivered a letter from Palestine’s Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Sunday detailing the current situation in the country and the opinions of Palestinian officials.
"Palestine and Türkiye will hopefully continue working together in coordination," Mustafa said.
Known for its unbreakable solidarity with the Palestinians, Türkiye has been supporting the Palestinian cause in the international realm for decades. Turkish authorities emphasize that the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability in the Middle East is through a fair and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue within the framework of international law and United Nations resolutions. Despite recent rapprochement with Israel, Turkish officials continue criticizing Israel’s policies targeting Palestinians, including the illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Mustafa on Monday further expressed that the Palestinians believe the year ahead will be particularly challenging for them under Benjamin Netanyahu’s new administration. "Even among Israelis, this new government is considered the most far-right administration in Israel to date," he said.
He underlined that individuals within the Israeli government are calling to displace and force Palestinians to migrate, make room for more settlements, and conduct raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque. "This government’s program creates more space for extremist radicals and fascists to realize their discriminatory and fascist programs on the Palestinian people," he said.
The Palestinians accuse Israel of systematically working to Judaize East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, and to obliterate its Arab and Islamic identity.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third-holiest site. On the other hand, Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, which was never recognized by the international community.
"This government did not waste its time and continued killing our people daily," Mustafa said.
Palestinians have lost 13 people, three of whom were children, in 2023 so far, he added: "If the death toll is this high this early in the year, we believe this year will be bloody for us."
A total of 230 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, gangs and settlers in 2022 alone, the highest toll for the past seven years. Mustafa noted that Israeli forces also destroyed 833 homes and institutions, including Palestinian state institutions in East Jerusalem, private homes and even olive trees.
Indeed, the West Bank suffered spiraling violence last year, with near-daily Israeli army raids leading to scores of deaths of Palestinian fighters and civilians. At the same time, Jewish settlers have been increasingly targeted by, at times, deadly Palestinian violence.
On claims that a civil war could break out in Israel over the opposition’s protests to the new administration, namely last week’s rally attended by nearly 100,000 Israelis and President Isaac Herzog’s remarks that the country was facing "a deep conflict that is tearing the people apart," Mustafa said it wasn’t just Palestinian Muslims that were unhappy with the new government.
"Some in Israel disagree with this administration for various reasons because these groups argue these far-right religious parties will dominate society and make changes that would divide the Israeli people. We also know Netanyahu’s intervention in the law. He wants absolute control, and this isn’t accepted by vast masses, with some even describing these attempts as a coup," he noted.