Fidan to attend second Gaza contact group meeting in Jordan
Smoke rises behind buildings following Israeli airstrikes on the al-Bureij refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, Sept. 17, 2024. (EPA Photo)


Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is set to attend a meeting of the Gaza contact group in Jordan on Wednesday, the second such gathering in the past week to discuss the Palestine-Israel conflict.

The meeting aims to discuss strategies for achieving a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians since a cross-border attack by Hamas last October, and address the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to diplomatic sources.

Key topics include steps to end the "genocide" in Gaza, implementing a two-state solution and ensuring uninterrupted humanitarian aid delivery to the region.

Increasing support for the work of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) will also be on the agenda.

Fidan is expected to advocate for increased international pressure on Israel and push for Palestine's full membership in the U.N.

He will also reiterate calls for more countries to intervene in the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

During the visit, King Abdullah II of Jordan is scheduled to receive the ministers of the contact group.

This meeting follows a recent gathering in Madrid, which included representatives from Spain, Norway, Slovenia, the European Commission and other nations.

The contact group was founded in November last year at the extraordinary joint summit of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It was assigned to take international action to stop the conflict in Gaza and help achieve lasting peace.

The group has so far made joint initiatives to stop Israeli attacks on Gaza in several capitals like London, Paris, New York, Washington, Ottawa, Oslo and Madrid.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares last Friday said Spain calls for a clear schedule for the international community to implement a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"We meet to make another push for the end of the war in Gaza, for a way out of the unending spiral of violence between the Palestinians, the Israelis," he told reporters.

Albares said there was "a clear willingness" among the participants "to move on from words to actions and to make strides toward a clear schedule for the effective implementation" of a two-state solution, starting with Palestine joining the U.N.

This is what motivated Spain's recognition on May 28 of Palestine as a state, together with Norway, Ireland and Slovenia, he said.

Calls for the solution have grown since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, which began with Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Türkiye has been a fervent critic of Israel, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, accusing Tel Aviv of committing genocide and criticizing Western nations for backing Israel.

In May, Türkiye suspended trade with Israel, citing its assault on Gaza, and in August, formally applied to join South Africa's initiative to have Israel tried for genocide at the ICJ.

Ankara is a firm supporter of the two-state solution with the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as an independent Palestine’s capital.

Fidan himself has led an intense diplomatic push for Ankara’s aims to facilitate a cease-fire in Gaza, uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave and necessary steps toward a two-state solution.