Türkiye has accused Israel of using hunger as a weapon against civilians in Gaza during the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearings and said the international community has "gravely failed" to prevent widespread destruction and loss of life.
"The international community has gravely failed to halt the Israeli aggression and loss of tens of thousands of innocent lives in Gaza, mostly women and children," said on Wednesday Nuh Yilmaz, Türkiye’s deputy minister for foreign affairs.
Yilmaz said the reason for Türkiye's appearance before the court is Israel's "sustained breach of its international obligations," adding that a war of "unprecedented scale" is being waged against civilians in Gaza, spilling into the occupied West Bank and neighbouring countries.
He accused Israel of using "hunger as a weapon" and "collective punishment," as Tel Aviv has closed Gaza’s crossings, blocking essential supplies from entering the enclave since March 2.
"Where there is no law enforced to stop Israel, there is chaos, anarchy, and mass killings amounting to genocide in Gaza," Yilmaz said.
Türkiye also condemned Israel’s attacks on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and its prohibition on the agency's operations, describing them as a violation of the court's provisional measures and a possible act of destruction against Palestinians as a protected group.
A mass demonstration in Istanbul calls for an end to Israeli atrocities in Palestine's Gaza, with participants urging action from Muslim nations and condemning global silence.
Citing the killing of Turkish-American humanitarian Aysenur Ezgi Eygi during peaceful protests in the West Bank, Yilmaz said the risks to aid workers remain dire.
"Türkiye respectfully requests the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion," he said, "that reaffirms Israel's obligations under international law and paves the way for justice, peace, and security for both Palestinians and Israelis."
The Israeli army renewed its assault on Gaza on March 18, shattering a January 19 ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Nearly 52,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.
