Hundreds across Türkiye on Wednesday night rallied against Israel’s continued aggression in the Gaza Strip as the Israel-Palestine conflict enters its 13th day amid reports of a looming ground offensive into the blockaded city.
Several groups mobilized by trade unions, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and political parties staged protests outside the consulates of Israel and the United States in Istanbul and other provinces over a deadly strike on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza that killed 471 Palestinians.
Denunciations poured in on Tuesday and Wednesday over the blast, which has been broadly described as a “war crime” by politicians and Human Rights Watch.
Israel, however, has denied responsibility for the air raid, blaming instead a misfiring rocket from the Palestinian resistance groups. Thousands of Palestinians were at the hospital when the building came under bombardment.
“Israel is heading toward a ruthless and systematic genocide in Palestine, which the U.S. and EU countries are unconditionally supporting,” Kenan Alpay, the head of a Free Thought and Education Rights Association, said as he addressed the crowd in front of the Israeli consulate on Wednesday evening.
He accused the Zionists of “occupying Muslim lands through terrorism, blackmailing, massacres and assassinations” and international media of portraying “the barbaric attacks” as “opening up new settlements.”
Another youth group marched to the U.S. consulate waving posters, Palestinian flags and U.S. dollars, blaming Washington for being Israel’s “sponsor” and shouting anti-Israel and anti-U.S. slogans.
“America is Israel’s accomplice and the biggest supporter of the massacres in Gaza, the systemic oppression, abuse and attacks at the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Mehmet Yaroğlu, a spokesperson for the group said.
“We salute the people of Gaza and their resistance, even as their families are martyred. We declare here that we stand with them,” Yaroğlu told reporters.
The Turkish academic community has joined the chorus and condemned Israel's "continuation of inhumane attacks against the Palestinian people,” particularly its attack targeting Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.
“A human tragedy is taking place in Gaza in which there is a clear violation of the principles of international law and international humanitarian law,” said a joint declaration issued Wednesday by the Turkish Council of Higher Education and all universities.
"We call for an immediate end to all attacks and acts of violence," the community said.
"We support the diplomatic initiatives carried out by Türkiye on the basis of the two-state vision with the aim of establishing a lasting peace in the region," it said.
"In this regard, as the academic community, we declare our readiness to fulfill all our responsibilities."
Joining other Muslim states like Egypt and Lebanon, Türkiye has also declared a three-day mourning period in solidarity with Palestinians.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said it was “a requirement of our respect for thousands of martyrs, most of whom are children and innocent civilians.”
"As Türkiye, we feel the great suffering of our Palestinian brothers and sisters in our hearts," Erdoğan wrote on X.
State theatres, opera and ballet events have been halted for the duration of the national mourning, as well.
Also on Wednesday, a 65-year-old man who died of a heart attack during protests in Istanbul a day earlier was laid to rest.
Pro-Palestinian protests have been raging across Türkiye and the rest of the globe since the conflict began on Oct. 7 when Hamas initiated a multi-pronged surprise attack by launching a barrage of rockets and infiltrations into Israel. The Palestinian group said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers.
Israel responded with Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip and has bombed the besieged city nonstop since. A growing chorus of nongovernmental groups and world leaders is saying the Israeli bombing campaign on Gaza – including health care facilities, residences, and houses of worship – violates international law and may constitute war crimes.
Gaza is already experiencing a dire humanitarian crisis with no electricity, while water, food, fuel and medical supplies are running out after Israel cut off access for the 2.3 million residents.
Türkiye has been among dozens of countries that shipped aid to Gaza but the city’s only crossing with Egypt, the Rafah border gate, remains mainly closed despite mounting calls for Cairo to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into the coastal area, which Israeli airstrikes have also pounded.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, and over 12,000 were wounded, mostly women, children and the elderly. Another 1,300 people are believed buried under the rubble, health authorities said.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel.
