'Shame on you': Israel's FM decries Erdogan's meeting with Hamas chief

A day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged Palestinians to unite against Israel, the Jewish nation’s foreign minister slammed the Turkish leader’s decision to publicise his latest meeting with the head of Hamas’s politburo.

In a scathing attack on X, formally known as Twitter, Israel’s Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz shared a photograph of Erdoğan shaking hands with Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh, and insisted that the Turkish president should be “ashamed of himself”.

The Turkish leader met Haniyeh alongside key members of his cabinet and Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s Foreign Minister to discuss the ongoing situation in West Asia. The leaders held the meeting at the presidential office in Istanbul and agreed on the need to calm the tension across the region.

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“The Muslim Brotherhood: rape, murder, desecration of corpses and burning babies. Erdogan @RTErdogan, shame on you!” Katz wrote on X, formally known as Twitter.

ברית האחים המוסלמים: אונס, רצח, חילול גופות ושריפת תינוקות.
ארדואן @RTErdogan, תתבייש! pic.twitter.com/e1EqD5fuyt

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) April 20, 2024

What happened at the meeting?

During the meeting, Erdoğan and Shoukry expressed concerns that the recent drone attacks between Iran and Israel would divert international attention from the plight of millions of Gazans stuck in the coastal enclave.

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The meeting also touched upon the regional realignment that is taking place amid Israel’s assault on Gaza which is being conducted in response to the deadly October 7 massacre that killed 1,200 people in Southern Israel.

Turkey’s relations with Israel have rapidly soured ever since the commencement of the Israel-Hamas war. In light of this, Ankara has decided to not export 54 products including aluminium and cement to Israel until a ceasefire is achieved.

Hopes of ceasefire look bleak

Amid the chaos in the Middle Eastern region, indirect ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas that have been mediated by Qatar and Egypt appear to have collapsed entirely.

Last week, the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that Doha was re-evaluating its role as mediator, adding that some have used the talks for “narrow political interest”, and made “destructive”, statements about Qatar.

During a rare interview with Turkish state media Anadolu, Haniyeh lashed out at Washington. “The US position is deceptive, even though it says it does not want civilians to be harmed, this is an attempt at manipulation,” he said, emphasising that Israel is using US-made weaponry in Gaza.

With inputs from agencies.