ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to call at a meeting in Istanbul on Monday for arrangements to be made as soon as possible to ensure the security and administration of Gaza by Palestinians, a foreign ministry source said on Sunday.
The foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia are set to join the meeting on ceasefire developments and the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the Turkish foreign ministry source said.
The source said Fidan was expected to “emphasise the importance of coordinated action by Muslim countries for the ceasefire to evolve into a lasting peace.”
Countries taking part in the Istanbul talks all attended a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in New York in September on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
The U.S.-brokered Gaza truce, which left thorny issues like the disarmament of Palestinian militant group Hamas and a timeline for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza unresolved, has been tested by periodic violence since coming into force.
The source said Fidan is set to tell the meeting that Israel is “making excuses” to end the ceasefire and emphasise the need for the international community to “take a resolute stance against Israel’s provocative actions”.
He was also set to say that humanitarian aid entering Gaza is insufficient and Israel has not fulfilled its obligations in this regard.
Relations between Turkey and Israel have hit new lows during the Gaza war, with President Tayyip Erdogan harshly criticising Israel’s attacks on the enclave.
Turkey helped persuade Hamas to accept Trump’s peace plan and has expressed a willingness to take part in an international task force to monitor ceasefire implementation.
However, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said last Monday that Israel won’t accept the presence of Turkish armed forces in Gaza under the U.S. plan to end the war.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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