Addressing an event on Friday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the "Führer of the present-day" and lamented the international community "watching only in the face of barbaric acts of Netanyahu and his crew amounting to genocide against the Palestinian people."

The president was speaking at the inauguration of new vessels for the Turkish navy in the northwestern province of Yalova.

"We are watching those supporting Israel unconditionally. Those turning a blind eye to the massacres today will regret tomorrow. The Western countries failed the test on Gaza. They lost their credibility. The fascist mindset of those claiming to advocate democracy surfaced. They ignored the murders of women and infants," he added.

Erdoğan champions the Palestinian cause and advocates a two-state solution to the ongoing conflict. He stepped up his criticism of Israel, which was on the brink of fully normalizing relations with Türkiye before a new stage of the conflict erupted on Oct. 7. In December, Erdoğan compared Netanyahu to Hitler. "They used to denounce Hitler. You are no different than Hitler. Hitler was not as rich as them. They have every kind of support from the West, from the United States. They killed more than 20,000 Gazans," Erdoğan said at an event in the capital Ankara last month.