'A snake will remain a snake': Israel's envoy to UN on Erdogan's Gaza remarks

Erdogan's right-wing Islamic-rooted political party on Saturday organised a huge pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul where he said 1.5 million people gathered.

Erdogan even said that Israel's retaliatory action on Hamas was an act of a "war criminal".

"For 22 days, Israel has been openly engaged in actions that are equivalent to war crimes. However, Western leaders have not taken a stance to urge Israel to halt its activities, let alone respond to them," Erdogan addressed the crowd in Istanbul, where supporters waved Palestinian flags in solidarity with Hamas.

Erdogan also called Israel an "occupier" and also reiterated that Hamas was not a terrorist organisation.

"Of course, every country has the right to defend itself. But where is the justice in this case?" he asked, and went on to accuse Western powers of "shedding tears" over the loss of civilian lives in Ukraine and ignoring the plight of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, said the AFP report.

"The continuing Israeli bombings of Gaza, which intensified last night, have once again targeted women, children and innocent civilians, aggravating the humanitarian crisis. Israel must immediately come out of this state of insanity and stop its attacks," Erdogan said on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Reacting to this tirade, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan also accused the Turkish president of “remaining antisemitic”.

Turkey's President Erdogan has expressed support for Hamas, referring to them as "freedom fighters" and condemning Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

In response, Israel has decided to recall its diplomats from Turkey.

Eli Cohen, Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a tweet said, "Given the grave statements coming from Turkey, I have ordered the return of diplomatic representatives there in order to conduct a reevaluation of the relations between Israel and Turkey."

He did not divulge any more details.