Israel calls Erdoğan’s comparison of Netanyahu and Hitler ‘deeply offensive’
Here’s more on the Israeli response to comments earlier by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, comparing Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
Israel’s president, Issac Herzog, has released a statement on social media in which he condemned Erdoğan’s comments, describing them as “deeply offensive” to Jewish people around the world and to the memory of the millions of Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. Herzog wrote:
I strongly condemn and utterly reject the words of Turkish President Erdogan. In all of human history, the Holocaust stands alone in its horror and enormity, and his words are deeply offensive to every Jew around the world, and to the memory of the millions of Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis.
The command “Never Again” remains an imperative for the State of Israel – the nation state of the Jewish people – which is committed to the safety and protection of every Jew. There is no struggle more just than the war against the terrorist organization Hamas, which brutally and barbarically murdered Jews, as well as Muslims, and those of other faiths and nationalities.
I strongly condemn and utterly reject the words of Turkish President Erdogan.
In all of human history, the Holocaust stands alone in its horror and enormity, and his words are deeply offensive to every Jew around the world, and to the memory of the millions of Jews who perished…
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) December 27, 2023
Key events
Israeli forces ‘at very high level of readiness’ as violence on Lebanon border grows, says IDF chief
Israel’s military chief has said his forces are “at a very high level of readiness” amid escalating Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon.
Herzi Halevi, the chief of the general staff of Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in remarks provided by the IDF and reported by the Times of Israel, said:
Our first task is to return residents safely, and that will take time. Today we approved a variety of plans for the future, and we need to be ready for an offensive, if necessary.
He added:
The IDF and within it the Northern Command are at a very high level of readiness. So far, the campaign here has been managed correctly and meticulously, and this is how it should continue. We will not return the residents without security and a sense of security.
On Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon reportedly killed a Lebanese-Australian man, his wife, and his brother, who was a member of Hezbollah, according to reports. The strikes followed a series of attacks by Hezbollah on Israeli posts close to the border.
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their communities in northern Israel amid daily Hezbollah rocket, missile and drone attacks, the Times of Israel reported.
Israel calls Erdoğan’s comparison of Netanyahu and Hitler ‘deeply offensive’
Here’s more on the Israeli response to comments earlier by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, comparing Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
Israel’s president, Issac Herzog, has released a statement on social media in which he condemned Erdoğan’s comments, describing them as “deeply offensive” to Jewish people around the world and to the memory of the millions of Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. Herzog wrote:
I strongly condemn and utterly reject the words of Turkish President Erdogan. In all of human history, the Holocaust stands alone in its horror and enormity, and his words are deeply offensive to every Jew around the world, and to the memory of the millions of Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis.
The command “Never Again” remains an imperative for the State of Israel – the nation state of the Jewish people – which is committed to the safety and protection of every Jew. There is no struggle more just than the war against the terrorist organization Hamas, which brutally and barbarically murdered Jews, as well as Muslims, and those of other faiths and nationalities.
I strongly condemn and utterly reject the words of Turkish President Erdogan.
In all of human history, the Holocaust stands alone in its horror and enormity, and his words are deeply offensive to every Jew around the world, and to the memory of the millions of Jews who perished…
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) December 27, 2023
Israel has continued its bombardment since the Hamas attacks on 7 October, killing at least 21,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.
Drone footage shows the destruction in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. Israel has broadened its offensive against Hamas, conducting house-to-house fighting on the ground.
Here is more on the Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon that reportedly killed a Lebanese-Australian man, his wife, and his brother, who was a member of Hezbollah.
The strike late on Tuesday hit a residential home in the town of Bint Jbeil, Reuters reported. The Lebanese-Australian man, a civilian, was identified by one of his relatives as Ibrahim Bazzi. His wife, a Lebanese national, was also killed.
Hezbollah said one of its fighters, Ali Bazzi, was killed along with his brother and wife. Lebanese media named her as Shourouk Hammoud.
A relative told AFP that Ibrahim Bazzi was an Australian citizen who had flown in for a visit about a week earlier.
Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said one of its jets had struck a Hezbollah military site overnight in Lebanon.
A spokesperson for the Australian foreign ministry said it was aware of the report and was seeking confirmation.
An Israel military reservist has been killed while fighting in Gaza just weeks after he auditioned to be considered for the Eurovision song contest.
Shaul Greenglick, 26, performed on Israel’s Rising Star, a show that picks the country’s Eurovision submission on 3 December while on furlough from his mobilisation in the war in Gaza.
Dressed in army fatigues and lieutenant’s stripes, he sang a popular ballad and was given the green light for the next round in the selection process, Reuters reported. One of the judges told Greenglick:
I’m happy to see you wearing a uniform, because it’s reassuring that someone like you is in uniform. I would be happy to see you representing Israel at Eurovision.
But Greenglick later dropped out of the show reportedly because of his duties in the infantry reserves. He was killed in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Gaza, Israel, Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Telecommunications and Internet services are being gradually restored in central and southern Gaza, the Palestinian phone service provider, Paltel, has said.
The provider announced yesterday that phone and Internet services had experienced a “complete breakdown” that was “due to the ongoing offensive”.
We would like to announce the gradual restoration of telecom services in the central and southern areas of Gaza Strip after a blackout caused by the ongoing aggression.
— Paltel (@Paltelco) December 27, 2023
Netanyahu says Erdoğan ‘is the last to preach morality’ in response to Hitler comparison
There has been a rapid diplomatic response from Israel to comments earlier by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, comparing Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler. [See 13.56 GMT]
In a statement the Israeli prime minister said:
Erdoğan, who is carrying out a genocide of Kurds and holds a world record number of journalists opposed to his rule in jail, is the last to preach morality to us. The IDF is the most moral army in the world, which is fighting and eliminating the most despicable and brutal terror organization in the world, Hamas-Daesh, which committed crimes against humanity and Erdogan praises it and hosts its senior officials.
Citing a video aired on Turkish television that appeared to show Israeli soldiers rounding up half-naked men in a stadium in Gaza, Turkey’s president had said “We watched Israel’s Nazi camps in the stadiums, right? What is this? Remember they used to talk about Hitler in a weird way? How are you different than Hitler? They will make us long for Hitler. Is there anything different in Netanyahu’s actions compared to Hitler’s?”
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has also hit back at Erdoğan’s comments, saying:
I condemn the statements made by Turkish president Erdoğan. Statements that are blatant distortions of reality and a desecration of the Holocaust’s memory. Hamas was the organisation that perpetrated a despicable massacre. Removing the threat of Hamas from the citizens of Israel is an existential necessity and an unparalleled moral imperative.
Haaretz reports that “three aircraft crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon and fell near Mount Dov in northern Israel”. There are no reports of damage or casualties.
Israel and anti-Israeli forces have been repeatedly exchanging fire over the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon.
Erdoğan compares Netanyahu to Hitler, condemns US support of Israel
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has compared Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler in a speech likely to provoke a strong reaction in Israel.
The Turkish president has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s actions since 7 October, and has repeatedly singled out the Israeli prime minister.
Associated Press reports that at an awards ceremony in Ankara, Erdoğan referenced a video aired on Turkish television that appeared to show Israeli soldiers rounding up half-naked men in a stadium in Gaza, saying: “We watched Israel’s Nazi camps in the stadiums, right? What is this? Remember they used to talk about Hitler in a weird way? How are you different than Hitler?”
He continued: “They will make us long for Hitler. Is there anything different in Netanyahu’s actions compared to Hitler’s?”
Erdoğan went on to say that Netanyahu was receiving “all kinds of support” from the US, adding: “And with all this support, what did they do to more than 20,000 Gazans? They killed them.”
Erdoğan has previously referred to Netanyahu as “the butcher of Gaza”, accused him of actions amounting to “genocide” and called for him to be prosecuted by an international war crimes tribunal.
The social media account of King Abdullah II has issued a statement after the meeting of Jordan’s king and the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in Cairo.
It said the pair “stress their complete rejection of all attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue and forcibly displace Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. His majesty and Egypt’s president call on the world to push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the uninterrupted delivery of sufficient humanitarian aid to Gaza, to ease the tragic situation and the suffering of people in the strip.”
The statement added: “The two leaders note the international community’s immense political and ethical responsibility towards implementing UN security council and general assembly resolutions in order to maintain the integrity of these international entities.”
Bethan McKernan
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has allegedly refused requests from security officials to begin making plans for control and governance of the Gaza Strip after the war with Hamas ends, according to a report.
Over the last few days, three requests to the prime minister’s office were conveyed on behalf of the directors of the Mossad, the Shin Bet security agency, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) chief of staff and the defence ministry to arrange a meeting on decisions relating to “the day after” Israel declares it has achieved its goals against the Palestinian militant group in control of the Gaza Strip, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Tuesday night.
All those requests were refused, the network said. “Time is running out and decisions need to be made already about how to act with regard to all the relevant actors inside and outside the Gaza Strip. The Americans want explanations,” it quoted an unnamed security official as saying.
Israel launched heavy strikes across central and southern Gaza overnight and into Wednesday after broadening its offensive against Hamas to more areas where the military had told Palestinians to seek shelter earlier in the war.
Residents reported heavy bombing in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, in the southern city of Khan Younis and in the southern town of Rafah, areas where tens of thousands have sought refuge as much of northern Gaza was pounded to rubble, AP reports.
“It was a night of hell. We haven’t seen such bombing since the start of the war,” said Rami Abu Mosab, speaking from the Bureij camp, where he has been sheltering since fleeing his home in northern Gaza.
He said warplanes flew overhead and gunfire and explosions echoed from the eastern edge of the camp – which, like others in Gaza, houses refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation and their descendants and now resembles other densely populated neighbourhoods.
A home near Abu Mosab’s shelter was hit, but no one was able to reach the area, he said. Mobile phone and internet service was down for several hours before being gradually restored on Wednesday, the latest of several such outages that have complicated rescue efforts.
With much of northern Gaza levelled, Palestinians fear a similar fate awaits other areas, including Khan Younis, where Israeli forces launched ground operations in early December, and a cluster of built-up refugee camps in central Gaza where the focus has shifted this week.
The military’s latest evacuation orders cover an area of central Gaza that was home to nearly 90,000 people before the war and now shelters more than 61,000 displaced people, mostly from the north, according to the UN humanitarian office.
Israel has said the bombing campaign and ground offensive are necessary to dismantle Hamas and prevent a repeat of its 7 October attack, in which militants broke through Israel’s formidable defences and killed 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abducted about 240. An estimated 129 remain in captivity after dozens were freed.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Gaza, Israel, Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is expected to travel to the Middle East next week to discuss the war in Gaza, according to an Axios reporter citing five officials.
Blinken is expected to visit Israel, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Israel has handed over the bodies of 80 Palestinians killed in the conflict in Gaza, the Palestinian ministry of health said on Wednesday after they were buried and the authorities recorded details to help with later identification.
Gaza authorities were trying to figure out when and where the men were killed and who they were, Reuters reports. Israeli officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The health ministry said the bodies were handed over by Israel through the Kerem Shalom border crossing. According to the Islamic Waqf, or religious affairs ministry, the bodies had been collected from the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
It is rare for such a large number of bodies to be returned. They were buried on Tuesday in a long ditch at a Rafah cemetery in the south of the enclave.
“Pictures are being taken to identify them later,” a representative of the Gaza Islamic Waqf said.
An Israeli strike has killed 20 Palestinians near al-Amal hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, Gaza’s health ministry spokesperson, Ashraf Al-Qidra, told Reuters.
Here is a map from our graphics team indicating the latest known situation in the Gaza Strip.
Summary of the day so far …
It has just gone 2pm in Gaza City and in Tel Aviv. Here are the latest headlines:
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Israeli military action has killed 21,110 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its campaign against Hamas on 7 October, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the territory. The ministry reported that 55,243 people had been wounded. It said 195 people were killed and 325 injured in the last 24 hours.
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The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, have discussed planning for the day after the Israel-Gaza war, including governance and security in Gaza, a White House official says. During a meeting in Washington on Tuesday, the two also discussed efforts to bring home the remaining hostages and a transition to a different phase of the war to maximise focus on high-value Hamas targets, Reuters quoted the official as saying.
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An Israeli operation in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank left six people dead and several others wounded early on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. According to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, the six people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on the Nur Shams refugee camp near the town of Tulkarem, where Israeli soldiers were also deployed.
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Hezbollah has claimed on Wednesday morning to have fired 18 rockets into Israel from Lebanon. The IDF said it intercepted some of the rockets. There have been no reports of casualties or damage. The organisation also said one of its fighters was killed in an Israeli strike on Bint Jbeil. Two other members of his family were killed.
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The deaths of three Israeli soldiers announced overnight bring the total death toll inflicted on the IDF during its ground operations inside Gaza to 164. Israel launched its attack on the territory after the Hamas 7 October attack inside southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed in the attack and an estimated 240 were taken hostage.
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Iran’s atomic energy chief, Mohammad Eslami, has said there was “nothing new” in an international nuclear watchdog report saying that Tehran had reversed a months-long slowdown in its uranium enrichment programme, Iranian media reported. Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, included Iran in a list of countries and territories that he said were attacking Israel in “seven theatres”.
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Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch former deputy prime minister and a Middle East expert, has been appointed the UN’s coordinator for humanitarian aid to Gaza. The announcement by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, follows last week’s security council resolution calling for aid to be delivered to the territory “at scale”. The US welcomed Kaag’s appointment. She is expected to start on 8 January.
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Global shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd has said it will continue to re-route cargo ships via the Cape of Good Hope rather than transit the Suez Canal due to the threat to shipping posed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have been targeting vessels they claim have links to Israel.
