Erdogan calls Gaza war an ‘ecocide’ at UN climate summit; Israel: ‘Campaign of lies’

Speaking at the COP31 UN climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza an "ecocide" as well as a genocide. Erdogan stated that centuries-old olive trees have been cut down and that soil and water have been polluted. He noted that Gaza's destroyed infrastructure, combined with flooding and torrential rain, has inundated tens of thousands of tents and shelters. Erdogan also called on the Israeli government to grant more aid access to the Palestinian territory.

The Times of Israel reports that the Iranian president also used the conference in Turkey to criticize the United States and Israel, claiming they have inflicted severe environmental damage during the recent war.

Israel's Foreign Ministry responded to Erdogan's remarks on X, accusing him of supporting Hamas and using an international forum to conduct an "anti-Israel campaign of lies." This follows a UN-backed panel of independent experts' conclusion last year that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, an allegation Israel vehemently denies while accusing the panel of antisemitism.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Times of Israel, Gulf News — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.