A genocide is underway in Palestine and the international system is deliberately not taking action to stop it, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Tuesday.

Fidan was speaking at a session of the Future of Palestine conference, which was organized by Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the capital, Ankara.

"What's happening in Gaza is a living testimony to the fact that the international system has been designed, used and abused to the privilege of a few," Fidan said.

He referred to the situation in Gaza as "a genocide," saying, "42,000 people, mostly women and children, have been murdered, killed, intentionally and systematically."

Furthermore, Fidan emphasized that the tragedy is not new but has been going on for 70 years, and expressed deep frustration with the international community.

"Unfortunately, the international community, starting with ourselves, the Muslim community, and the Arab community, has been useless, powerless and hopeless in stopping this ongoing tragedy."

He criticized attempts to justify the deaths as collateral damage and denounced the use of artificial intelligence in military operations, saying, "It's not us. This is the machine. It kills."

The Turkish foreign minister also reiterated Türkiye's stance on the two-state solution as the only viable path to peace, saying, "If Palestinians have their own country, land, freedom, dignity, why would they need to fight?"

He also called on the global community to push for a two-state solution, noting that over 150 countries have recognized Palestine at the U.N.

Fidan urged immediate action, warning that unless a solution is found, the conflict will escalate into a larger regional and global crisis.

Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 42,300 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 98,600 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Mediation efforts led by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to halt the war.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its actions in Gaza, to which Türkiye has also applied to become a party against Israel.

Speaking at the same event, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the international community failed to protect the lives of innocent Palestinians.

"Without the establishment of a sovereign state for the Palestinians, Israel will not achieve peace," Safadi told the conference.

He said Israel only brings destruction to the region.

"Israel does not seek peace and stability for the countries of the region, as it destroyed Gaza and is expanding its aggression against Lebanon," he added.

"Israel has lost the war both politically and morally," Safadi said.

The top diplomat stressed that no single aid truck has been allowed into Gaza since Sept. 30 amid its ongoing war on the enclave.

"Israel continues to bomb shelters, hospitals and schools," he said. "Israel is expanding its control over more occupied Palestinian territories by building more settlements."

"What Israel is doing is a war crime," Safadi said.

Regional tensions have soared with Israel’s spreading its brutal offensive to Lebanon, launching deadly strikes across the country and a ground invasion in southern Lebanon, killing more than 1,542 people and injuring over 4,555 others since Sept. 23.

"Israel has committed and is still committing war crimes in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. Why is the international law applicable in Ukraine not applicable in Gaza?" Safadi said.

Making Israel ‘pay’

Fidan said division over the Russia-Ukraine conflict had an affinity to the division on the Palestine-Israel conflict and the problem between north and south was deepening in approaches to the conflict.

He argued that Israel could continue its massacres in Gaza because it is currently "paying no price economically, militarily or politically."

"In such a case, we have no measure to stop the genocide," he said. "We need to make sure that the Israeli government and its supporters are paying the price so they can understand there are limits to what they can do."

He also warned that Israel’s attacks in Lebanon must "not make us forget about Gaza and Palestine."

Although he welcomed "some opposition" in Israeli society against Netanyahu’s Gaza policies, Fidan lamented that it was impossible to have a reasonable discussion with "Israeli fanatics."

"Israel is taking its people to the edge of a cliff and leaving a legacy for future generations that is no good and nobody is telling this fact to Israelis," he said.

"We need to work tirelessly and relentlessly to deliver aid for our Palestinian brothers and sisters cornered (in Gaza) without food and water and millions of others in the West Bank who are at immediate risk of being in the same position," Fidan added.

He slammed Israel's systematic targeting of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) and classification of the aid agency as a terrorist organization by Netanyahu, saying: "This is where we reach the limits of our words and international diplomacy."

"We need to go into the second phase now and start using other instruments starting with sanctions, international legal actions, boycotting Israel and its supporters on every subject and every domain," Fidan said.

He argued that most nations worldwide are displeased with the current international system and stressed the need for reform in international bodies like the U.N.

"The only way to immediately end this misery is to implement a two-state solution including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem," Fidan said.

Safadi similarly bemoaned the repercussions of the international system in stopping Israel’s war on Gaza, which he said would "impact the world for years to come."

Israel's total disregard for three separate International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings in ongoing cases against it has set a dangerous precedent, Safadi argued.

"Israeli attacks are within the legal definition of genocide," he said. "It must be held accountable for the violations it has committed in Gaza."