Speaking at a news conference on the occasion of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ visit to Türkiye and anticipated address at Parliament, ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) spokesperson Ömer Çelik criticized the U.S. for its support of Israel.
“The U.S. is engaged in efforts for peace (in Palestine-Israel conflict) but remains silent on assassination by the Netanyahu administration,” Çelik said in the capital, Ankara, on Thursday, referring to the killing of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
“They urge calm to Iran, but at the same time, they deploy many warplanes to the region. It is a blatant contradiction to call for peace while sending warships off Gaza and supplying weapons to Israel,” he said.
Çelik noted that Israel was pursuing a genocidal policy coupled with an approach threatening regional peace. “Key to the world peace is in the Middle East and in Palestine,” he said. Çelik said peace was under threat by Netanyahu.
“Whenever there is will for peace, Netanyahu bombs schools, kill children and eliminate this will. They respond to peace calls by bombing schools,” he said. Çelik referred to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ recent remarks on the need for reforms in the United Nations, something echoing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s repeated call for a change in the U.N. Security Council for a fairer world.
“Israel holds the international system hostage and drives the entire world to desperation in the face of merely one government. They see themselves above the U.N. and openly attack all humanitarian values,” Çelik stated.
The U.S. State Department announced earlier this week the approval of $20 billion in weapons sales to Israel amid the escalation of tensions in the region following the assassination of Haniyeh and Hezbollah's Fuad Shukr and global condemnation for Tel Aviv's ongoing war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
Congress was notified of the impending sale, which includes more than 50 F-15 fighter jets, advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles or AMRAAMs, 120 mm tank ammunition and high explosive mortars and tactical vehicles, and comes at a time of intense concern that Israel may become involved in a wider Middle East war.
