Turkey to hold Gaza peace plan meeting for Muslim states

Istanbul: Turkey will on Monday host a meeting of foreign ministers from Muslim countries to discuss a US peace plan for Gaza, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.

Fidan told reporters on Friday that the Istanbul meeting would “evaluate our progress and discuss what we can achieve together in the next stage”.

A ministry spokesman said ministers from Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had all been invited.

The foreign ministers of all these countries met US President Donald Trump on September 23 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

“A glimmer of hope emerged, offering a glimmer of hope for everyone,” Fidan said during a joint news conference with his Estonian counterpart Margus Tsahkna.

There were a number of issues that needed to be addressed at the meeting, he said.

“What are the obstacles to its implementation? What are the challenges to be faced? What are the next steps? What will we be discussing with our Western friends? And what support is there for the ongoing talks with the United States?”

Fidan accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “looking for a pretext to violate the ceasefire (in Gaza) and relaunch the genocide under the eyes of the whole world”.

Turkey sent an 81-strong distaster response team to Gaza a week ago to help with search and rescue operations.

But it is still waiting at the border for Israeli approval to enter the Palestinian territory, said Fidan.

The foreign ministry was still “working intensively” and its army was discussing the possibility of joining the international force to oversee the ceasefire, said Fidan.

But Israeli Foreign Miniser Gideon Saar said on Monday it would not be reasonable for them to let Turkey participate because of their “hostile approach” to Israel.

“So it is not reasonable for us to let their armed forces enter (the) Gaza Strip, and we will not agree to that, and we said it to our American friends,” said Saar.