Turkey will on Monday seek support from key Muslim nations to shape Gaza’s future, amid mounting concerns over the fragility of a weeks-old truce.
The ceasefire, brokered on October 10 by the US President Donald Trump to halt the two-year-long Israel-Hamas war, has shown signs of strain following renewed Israeli strikes and reports of Palestinian attacks on Israeli troops.
Ankara, one of Israel’s staunchest critics over its Gaza campaign, is hosting the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Pakistan, and Indonesia in Istanbul.
Those same ministers had been consulted by Trump in late September during the UN General Assembly in New York, days before his Gaza peace proposal was announced.
Turkish diplomatic sources said Ankara plans to urge these leaders to back a framework allowing Palestinians to oversee Gaza’s security and administration.
Ahead of the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with a Hamas delegation led by senior negotiator Khalil al-Hayya.
“We must end the massacre in Gaza. A ceasefire alone is not enough,” Fidan said, calling for a two-state solution and urging that Gaza’s governance remain in Palestinian hands.
