Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday slammed Israel's offensive in Lebanon, urging the United Nations and other international bodies to stop Tel Aviv without "wasting any more time".
"Whatever it does, Israel will be stopped sooner or later," the Turkish president said.
Israeli officials on Monday said that their troops have launched ground operations in Lebanon, adding that forces of the both the sides engaged in a clash on Tuesday.
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Speaking at the opening sessions of the Turkish Parliament, Erdogan that the Israeli leadership "acting with delirium of the promised land and with a purely religious fanaticism" will set its eyes on Turkey after Palestine and Lebanon.
"Israel's aggression extends to Turkey. We will oppose this state terrorism with every means at our disposal for the sake of our country, our nation, and our independence," he was cited as saying by Türkiye Today.
He described the Israeli government to be moving forward with "expansionist policies" that could ultimately threaten Türkiye's territorial integrity.
Erdogan accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and carrying out terror attacks in Lebanon, while attempting to stir up a broader regional conflict.
He warned Israel and said, "your ground operation in Lebanon will not be the same as your previous occupations. Turkey must stand by Lebanon, and the international community must urgently provide support to Israel."
“We are not dealing with a state bound by law, but with a gang of killers that thrives on bloodshed and occupation,” Türkiye Today cited Erdogan as saying.
He extended all of Turkey's support to its Lebanese brothers and said that they wouldn't be left alone on their own in these difficult times.
He reaffirmed that Turkey will not let Israel's actions to go unanswered, pressing on the direct threat the aggression poses to the region's stability. "Occupation, terror, and aggression are right next to us. We will stand against this with all our might," the Turkish President said in the Parliament.
In fact, Erdogan compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Nazi Germany's Adolf Hitler, saying, "Just as Hitler, who saw himself in a giant mirror, was stopped, Netanyahu will be stopped in the same way."
Earlier, Erdogan had emphasised that the UN General Assembly should recommend the use of force, according to a 1950 resolution, if the UN Security Council fails to stop Israel's offensive in Gaza and Lebanon.
"The UN General Assembly should rapidly implement the authority to recommend the use of force, as it did with the 1950 Uniting for Peace resolution, if the Security Council can't show the necessary will," the Turkish president had said.
The resolution allows the UNGA to step in if disagreements between the UNSC's permanent members with veto powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- mean they fail to maintain international peace.
Notably, the Security Council is the only body of the United Nations that can make legally binding decisions such as that of authorising use of force or imposing sanctions.
Turkey, a NATO Member, has also paused all its trade with Israel and applied to join the genocide case against Israel at the World Court, an accusation which Israel has rejected many times.
Erdogan also expressed discontent over the less active stance of Muslim countries against Israel, urging them to take economic, diplomatic and political measures against Israel to press it into accepting a ceasefire deal.
"For the peace of everyone in our region, from Muslim to Jew to Christian, we call on the international community and Muslim world to mobilise," Erdogan was cited as saying by Reuters. He also reiterated that Israel would target Muslim countries as well if it not stopped soon.
Meanwhile, the Turkish government has come up with a contingency plan to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon as "the security situation is likely to deteriorate".
"In coordination with relevant institutions, alternative plans have been prepared for the evacuation of our citizens by sea or air from Lebanon," the Turkish foreign ministry said.
Reportedly, around 14,000 Turkish citizens are registered with the consulate in Lebanon. The ministry also noted that it has ascertained guidelines for the evacuation of third countries' citizens through Turkey, adding that necessary preparations for the same were underway.
