FM says Israel seeks to expand war beyond Gaza

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday said Israel's expanding military actions, particularly the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, suggests it has a desire to take the Gaza conflict to the region.

"There is a desire within Israel, including [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, to escalate the conflict across the region," Fidan said in an exclusive interview with Türkiye's public broadcaster TRT Haber in New York.

He emphasized that "if Israel is not stopped in Gaza and Palestine, it will spread its war to surrounding regions," noting that after reaching its military targets in Gaza, Israel is now moving to the front in Lebanon.

Hezbollah and Israel continued cross-border warfare since the Gaza war last October, but Tel Aviv recently escalated its offensive in Lebanon, killing hundreds, displacing thousands and also assassinating the group's leader Nasrallah. The conflict could escalate further, as there are fears of an Israeli military ground invasion.

Fidan characterized the ongoing situation in Gaza, where more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion, as a "tragedy," but said if there is greater tragedy than this, it is hypocrisy and inefficiency of the international system.
Need for reform in the UN

Fidan said the conflict had showed us that international institutions, including the U.N., are not functioning, highlighting an urgent need for reform.

He said "the despair in the U.N., the silence of the international community on this issue, has become a frightening situation."

The top Turkish diplomat also underscored the importance of establishing an independent Palestine, saying the Gaza Contact Group, formed at a joint...