Erdogan slams Israel for Gaza fighting: No excuse for killing children

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slams Israel for carrying out strikes in the Gaza Strip against Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

“There can be no excuse for killing children, Turkey stands by the Palestinian people,” the Anadolu news agency quotes him as saying in a speech.

Erdogan’s criticism comes despite a recent rapprochement with Israel after more than a decade of strained ties.

Several Palestinian children are among the dead after three days of fighting, although Israel says some of them were killed when Islamic Jihad rockets fell short and exploded in residential areas inside Gaza.

In his speech, Erogan also reiterates his support for a two-state solution with a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

He also calls issues surrounding the flashpoint  Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City a “red line” for Turkey but does not elaborate.