Anti-Israeli sentiment

The Turkish parliament's foreign affairs commission will sit down again on Tuesday to consider Sweden's NATO membership bid, the parliament's website showed on Friday, a first step necessary for ratification.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has argued Türkiye's recent financial initiatives are solidifying its position as a financial powerhouse, attracting both domestic and international investors.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has announced that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is set to visit Türkiye soon, marking the eighth meeting of the high-level cooperation council between the two nations.

During his address at the parliament's budget talks on Dec. 21, Fidan did not provide an exact date for Raisi's visit but touched on Türkiye's relations with Iran.

More than 20 countries have joined the U.S. led coalition to protect Red Sea shipping from attacks by Yemen's Huthi rebels, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

The Iran-backed Huthis have repeatedly targeted vessels in the vital shipping lane with strikes they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling militant group Hamas.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke over the phone with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, on Dec. 20 to address the ongoing developments in Gaza and the broader Middle East.

The leaders deliberated on Israel's ongoing attacks on the Palestinian territories and the imperative of delivering humanitarian aid to the embattled region, as disclosed by Erdoğan's office.

This was confirmed by Husam Badran, a member of the Hamas representative office in Qatar, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. According to Badran, Hamas wants an end to the war and a "Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem."

The US has said "very serious" talks are underway for a new ceasefire in Gaza and the release of more Israeli hostages. However, prospects for a deal remain uncertain as the Palestinian group Hamas insists it will only discuss an end to the Israeli offensive in the Palestinian enclave. Talks in Cairo on a new cease-fire failed to produce a deal.

Israel has ordered more evacuations in southern Gaza's main city as diplomats pressed on with efforts to secure a pause in the war that Hamas says has claimed 20,000 lives.

The United Nations said Israel had issued evacuation orders on Wednesday for large areas of Khan Yunis, where more than 140,000 displaced people were sheltering.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has criticized major world powers for their failure to intervene in the ongoing Gaza conflict, condemning what he described as a shameful display of helplessness "in the face of Israel's brutal attacks on Palestine."

The leader of Hamas travelled to Egypt on Wednesday as hopes grew that Israel and the Palestinian militant group may be inching toward another truce and hostage release deal in the Gaza war.

The Qatar-based Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Cairo for discussions on the "aggression in the Gaza Strip and other matters", the group said in a statement.