We are now closing this blog but you can read our report on today’s developments in Gaza here.
Turkey’s foreign ministry has submitted a letter to the UN, signed by 52 countries and two organisations, calling for a halt in arms deliveries to Israel.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, told a press conference in Djibouti, where he was attending a Turkey-Africa partnership summit:
We have written a joint letter calling on all countries to stop the sale of arms and ammunition to Israel. We delivered this letter, which has 54 signatories, to the UN on 1 November.
We must repeat at every opportunity that selling arms to Israel means participating in its genocide.
Fidan said the letter is “an initiative launched by Turkey”. Among the signatories was Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Algeria, China, Iran and Russia, with the two organisations being the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on the UN to impose an arms embargo on Israel, which he said would be an “effective solution” to end the war.
Erdoğan has been a vocal opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza. He has accused Israel of genocide, called for it to be punished in international courts and criticised western nations for backing the country’s military assault.
