Turkish President Recep Erdogan on Wednesday called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the “butcher of Gaza” in a scathing new speech to his Islamist AK Party, AFP reported.

“Netanyahu has already written his name in history as the butcher of Gaza,” Erdogan said in a speech broadcast live on Turkish television.

“Netanyahu endangers the safety of all Jews in the world by supporting anti-Semitism with the crimes he committed in Gaza,” the Turkish president added.

Erdogan, who is seen as a defender of the Palestinians, has already called Israel a “terrorist state” and said of Hamas that it is not a terrorist group but a “struggle for freedom”.

Erdoğan’s harsh statements after the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 and Israel’s harsh response again led to the collapse of relations between his country and the State of Israel.

Turkey and Israel have recently forged closer trade ties and worked on a number of joint energy projects as Israel normalized diplomatic relations with a number of Muslim states in recent years.

But on October 28, Israel’s foreign ministry recalled its diplomats from Turkey after Erdogan’s claims that Israel is the occupier of Palestine and Hamas is fighting for freedom. In response, Turkey recalled its diplomatic representative from Tel Aviv.

Erdogan accuses Israel of threatening the humanitarian truce

Erdogan also charged that Netanyahu’s government’s repeated claims that it was committed to destroying Hamas were jeopardizing efforts to extend the truce between Israel and Hamas, which since last week has seen the release of 60 Israeli hostages and 180 Palestinian prisoners.

“The Netanyahu administration’s statements diminish our hopes of turning the humanitarian pause into a lasting truce,” Recep Erdogan said.

The temporary humanitarian truce agreement ended hostilities that began with a Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and led to the kidnapping of 240 others.

Hamas officials say the Israeli strikes have killed nearly 15,000 people, mostly civilians, and left large swaths of northern Gaza in ruins.

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