By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL -Diplomatic sources said on Sunday that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Turkiye which was the first official visit in over three months. The two discussed Gaza while sources revealed they also discussed the release of the remaining hostages Hamas is holding and a path to an immediate ceasefire. At their meeting, both men discussed “increasing humanitarian aid and a two-state solution for a permanent peace, according to unnamed sources. Their last official contact was on October 16 via telephone. Turkiye has been attempting to mediate for a humanitarian pause and permanent peace which seeks a two-state solution that would include Israel recognizing a fully independent and sovereign Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.
Meanwhile, Fidan has been actively involved in seeking a solution to the Gaza conflict as part of a delegation of foreign ministers from the Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries, formed to address the issue. Fidan also visited more than six countries with the ministers in diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire. The Turkish foreign minister’s meeting was one day after Erdogan sharply criticized Netanyahu’s government, describing the Israeli Prime Minister as “Fuhrer of the present-day” and condemned the international community’s passivity. As Erdogan remarked that they were “watching only in the face of barbaric acts of Netanyahu and his crew, amounting to genocide against the Palestinian people.” Erdogan added that Western countries have “lost their credibility” and accused them of not being democratic as they “ignored the murders of women and infants.”
In the meantime, the Israeli government bristled after EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Friday that Israel financed the creation of Hamas though Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has denied the allegations. But along with The New York Times who did an investigative piece as well as opponents of the Israeli government and some global media – Netanyahu’s government is accused of giving the OK to Qatar to finance Hamas in Gaza and allowing Hamas free reign in Gaza for decades. As Borrell said in a speech at the University of Vlladolid in Spain: “Yes, Hamas was financed by the government of Israel in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority led by Fatah.” Borrell said creating a Palestinian state is the only just and peaceful solution to the conflict as he commented: “We only believe a two-state solution imposed from the outside would bring peace even though Israel insists on the negative.”
