Dozens Of Innocent Children Killed In Gaza, President Erdogan: Israel Has Beaten Nazi Leader Adolf Hitler

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Source: Presidency of The Republic of Turkey)

JAKARTA - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan highlighted the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent children in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli attacks, emphasizing that he would defend the Palestinian cause even if he was left alone, as the war in the Palestinian enclave has entered its 195th day.

"By killing more than 14,000 innocent children in Gaza, Israel has defeated Nazi leader Adolf Hitler," President Erdogan said at a parliamentary meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in Ankara on Wednesday, reported by Daily Sabah, April 18.

President Erdogan further strongly criticized Israel and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of carrying out a "massacre", since Israel launched a deadly military offensive in Gaza following a cross-border attack on October 7 led by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, which killed around 1,200 Israelis. killed.

Comparing Hamas' struggle to Turkey's War of Independence 100 years ago, President Erdogan said, "We are well aware of the consequences of this statement, but the world must know the truth."

As previously reported, nearly 14,000 children were killed in the Gaza Strip, while the number of Palestinian deaths due to Israeli attacks has now approached 34,000 in the war which has entered its 195th day.

According to United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Catherine Russell, more than 13,800 children have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the latest Hamas-Israel conflict broke out.

"Thousands of people are injured and thousands more are on the verge of starvation," he said at a press conference in New York, according to a statement from his organization, reported by CNN, April 18.

In a separate statement, the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women said "one child is injured or dies every 10 minutes" in Gaza. The statement added that more than 10,000 women have been killed in Gaza since the war began, with 6,000 of them leaving 19,000 children orphaned.

UNICEF communications specialist Tess Ingram, who recently visited Gaza, said at a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday that what shocked her was the number of injured children she saw.

"Not only in hospitals, but also on the streets, in temporary shelters, living their lives which have now changed permanently," he explained.

Yesterday, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health announced that on Wednesday, Israeli soldiers killed 56 Palestinians and injured 89 others over the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 33,899 and injured to 76,664, since the latest Hamas-Israel conflict broke out on October 7 2023, quoted from Xinhua.