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Türkiye Urges Regional Countries to Take United Stance Against ‘Israel’s Barbaric War’

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (AFP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (AFP)
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Türkiye Urges Regional Countries to Take United Stance Against ‘Israel’s Barbaric War’

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (AFP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (AFP)

Türkiye on Monday stressed that it cannot remain silent to the collective targeting of Gaza under the pretext of destroying the Hamas movement, calling on regional countries to take a united stance against Israel's barbarity.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country was engaged in busy diplomatic efforts to end the massacres and de-escalate tensions after Israel’s continued attacks against civilians in the Gaza Strip.
At a briefing at the Planning and Budget Committee, Fidan said it is significant that regional countries collectively reacted to Israel.
“We never accept attacks targeting civilians and since the crisis began, we made it clear that the civilians should be absolutely protected. We cannot remain silent to collective targeting of hospitals, schools and mosques in the name of eradicating Hamas,” the Turkish top diplomat said.
Türkiye has sent 11 planeloads of humanitarian aid to Egypt to be delivered to Gaza, said Fidan, adding that a large ship with field hospitals, medical equipment, medicines, and other aid materials has also reached Egypt.
“We have also facilitated the evacuation of 27 patients and 12 attendants from Gaza, and have brought them to Ankara. Additionally, 61 patients and 49 attendants were transferred to Egypt,” he added.
Last Sunday, a group of 87 people, consisting of Turks, Turkish Cypriots and their relatives, arrived in Egypt from Gaza on Sunday and was set to fly to Istanbul late on Monday, the Foreign Ministry said.
In a related development, Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus condemned the fact that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was denied entry to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing.
Speaking at the first session of the 9th Meeting of Parliament Speakers of MIKTA held in Indonesia, Kurtulmus said, “If oppression against Palestinians cannot be ended ... if this war spreads to neighboring countries, I am afraid that it will ignite a global conflict.”
He therefore underscored the necessity of establishing a new world system characterized by fairness and justice.
The Speaker also stated that the international community has to work with the code of “urgent action” to end the humanitarian sufferings in Gaza.

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Arab World

Egypt-Türkiye Military Agreement Drives Deeper Cooperation

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi receives Turkish counterpart Erdogan in Cairo earlier this month (Egyptian Presidency)
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi receives Turkish counterpart Erdogan in Cairo earlier this month (Egyptian Presidency)
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Egypt-Türkiye Military Agreement Drives Deeper Cooperation

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi receives Turkish counterpart Erdogan in Cairo earlier this month (Egyptian Presidency)
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi receives Turkish counterpart Erdogan in Cairo earlier this month (Egyptian Presidency)

The Egyptian-Turkish military agreement has emerged as a key pillar of expanding cooperation between the two countries, gaining fresh momentum after the joint declaration issued at the second meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Cairo earlier this month.

The meeting coincided with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Egypt and talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Türkiye’s ambassador to Cairo, Salih Mutlu Sen, told Asharq Al-Awsat that following the Feb. 4 council meeting, the two presidents signed a joint declaration and oversaw the signing of seven documents.

“This strengthened the contractual foundations of our bilateral cooperation across many fields, including military, investment and trade,” he said.

Sen added that the military framework agreement sets out structured cooperation through the exchange of information and expertise in specific areas, providing a legal basis for existing military ties.

Earlier this month, Egypt and Türkiye signed a military cooperation agreement between their defense ministries in Cairo, in the presence of Sisi and Erdogan. The move was followed by joint air force-level talks.

Egyptian Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Amr Saqr, meeting last week with his Turkish counterpart Gen. Ziya Cemal Kadioglu, stressed “the importance of coordinating efforts to achieve common interests,” and voiced hope for closer ties that would benefit both air forces.

Military ties have accelerated since 2023, when the two countries restored full diplomatic relations and exchanged presidential visits.

Cooperation has since expanded into the defense industry, with the resumption of joint “Sea of Friendship” exercises and an agreement on joint drone production.

Cairo has also joined Türkiye’s fifth-generation KAAN stealth fighter program.

Broadening cooperation

Beyond defense, Ankara and Cairo have moved quickly to deepen investment ties.

Sen pointed to efforts to improve the investment climate, localize production and transfer technology in priority sectors, describing these steps as central to the joint declaration on industrial cooperation.

“The Turkish-Egyptian partnership is advancing on the basis of mutual benefit,” he said. “Our goal is to jointly enhance security, stability, development and prosperity for the benefit of all countries in the region.”

He added that Sisi and Erdogan place high importance on initiatives that contribute to the welfare, stability and security of the region’s peoples.

Both countries are targeting $15 billion in bilateral trade by 2028. “The necessary resources, capabilities and political will are now available on both sides,” Sen said, pledging continued efforts to accelerate progress toward that goal.

At the trade level, he described the joint ministerial declaration by the two countries’ trade ministers as a vision document aimed at strengthening cooperation in trade, investment and industry. High-level trade consultations will be held regularly, forming the institutional mechanism for cooperation built on the free trade agreement.

Medical partnership

Medical cooperation has also gained traction.

Following talks last week on establishing the “Egyptian Medical City,” Sen said the two sides reached a comprehensive agreement on exchanging expertise within the framework of reforms and advances in Türkiye’s health sector.

He noted Egypt’s particular interest in medical city hospitals developed under Türkiye’s public-private partnership model, which has been implemented successfully. “Türkiye fully supports Egypt’s medical city project and is open to all forms of cooperation,” he said.

Egyptian Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar met last week with a delegation from Turkish firm YDA to discuss technical mechanisms for implementing the “Capital Medical City,” launched last month in the New Administrative Capital east of Cairo.

The project includes hospitals, medical institutes and universities specializing in medical sciences and technology.

Regional alignment

Alongside expanding bilateral ties, coordination on regional issues has intensified.

Sen said consultation and coordination between Egypt and Türkiye on regional files have seen marked progress, arguing that closer cooperation between “two strong regional states” with deep-rooted traditions and a strong sense of responsibility would bolster stability and prosperity at a time of serious regional challenges.

The joint declaration devoted significant attention to regional positions, highlighting alignment on the Palestinian issue and stressing the need to safeguard the territorial integrity of Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Libya and Sudan.

The two sides also condemned unilateral Israeli measures that violate the sovereignty of Syria and Lebanon and disregard international law.

Egypt and Türkiye maintain consistent support for the Palestinian cause, Sen said, adding that both countries clearly oppose agendas that fuel instability, divide regional states and create polarization.

Arab World

Syrian Gov’t Takes Military Site From Kurds in Kobani

Druze fighters during a detainee exchange in Sweidah on Thursday (AP)
Druze fighters during a detainee exchange in Sweidah on Thursday (AP)
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Syrian Gov’t Takes Military Site From Kurds in Kobani

Druze fighters during a detainee exchange in Sweidah on Thursday (AP)
Druze fighters during a detainee exchange in Sweidah on Thursday (AP)

Washington welcomed a prisoner and detainee exchange between the Syrian government and armed factions in the predominantly Druze southern province of Sweidah, as Damascus pressed ahead with efforts to fold Kurdish security forces into the state apparatus.

Syria’s Interior Ministry said the Internal Security Command in Aleppo province had taken over the Internal Security Directorate building in Ain al-Arab — known to Kurds as Kobani — and begun operating from the site.

The move is part of steps to integrate the Kurdish Asayish forces into the government’s security structure.

The state is seeking to reassert control over official institutions in areas that until recently were under the influence of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which had controlled large parts of northern and northeastern Syria and established a self-administration there.

In a statement posted on Telegram on Friday, the Interior Ministry said a security delegation toured the Internal Security Directorate in Ain al-Arab alongside the local internal security chief, visiting the main building and several affiliated police departments.

The delegation reviewed administrative and field operations and assessed technical and staffing readiness to ensure services continue “efficiently and regularly,” state news agency SANA reported.

SANA said an expanded meeting with department heads from the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) discussed unifying organizational and administrative structures with systems adopted by the Interior Ministry and reviewed a plan to complete the integration process in a way that strengthens institutional unity.

On Jan. 30, the Syrian government announced a ceasefire agreement with the SDF as part of a broader deal that includes a phased integration of military and administrative bodies and the handover of all civil and government institutions, crossings and border posts to the state.

In southern Syria, US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack welcomed an exchange that saw 25 government fighters and 61 Druze fighters released in Sweidah.

Writing on X on Friday, Barrack said the exchange was carried out smoothly and orderly, thanks to the International Committee of the Red Cross's valuable assistance.

He described the swap as a step toward stability and a step away from revenge, adding that the US was honored to help facilitate these efforts.

According to SANA, the exchange involved detainees and prisoners held after events in July last year in Sweidah province. It included 86 people — 61 detainees from the province and 25 prisoners held by outlaw groups in Sweidah — in what the agency described as a humanitarian and security operation aimed at reuniting families.

The Sweidah Media Directorate said on Thursday that the exchange of detainees linked to the July events involved Syrian government forces and Arab tribes on one side, and armed Druze factions on the other.

Government security forces share control of Sweidah province with Druze factions, particularly those loyal to Sheikh al-Aql Hikmat al-Hijri.

Arab World

Israel’s Top Court Allows Aid Groups to Keep Working in Gaza as Israeli Strikes Kill 5 There

Palestinians react as they wait to receive food at a soup kitchen in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 26, 2026. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Palestinians react as they wait to receive food at a soup kitchen in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 26, 2026. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
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Israel’s Top Court Allows Aid Groups to Keep Working in Gaza as Israeli Strikes Kill 5 There

Palestinians react as they wait to receive food at a soup kitchen in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 26, 2026. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Palestinians react as they wait to receive food at a soup kitchen in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 26, 2026. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)

Israel's top court on Friday moved to allow international aid groups to keep operating in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian territories as Israeli strikes killed at least five people across the war-torn enclave. 

The Supreme Court's order, which followed a petition from 17 aid groups, effectively halted an earlier Israeli government decision that barred aid groups for refusing to comply with Israel's new rules. 

Israel had announced it will ban 37 aid groups by March 1 for not abiding by rules introduced last year that require aid groups to register names and contact information of employees, and provide details about their funding and operations. 

The groups view the rules as invasive and arbitrary, and say the ban would hinder critical assistance. Israel says the new measures are necessary to ensure armed groups do not infiltrate humanitarian organizations. 

A US-negotiated ceasefire reached in October has halted major military operations. But the two-year war triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel has left much of the territory in ruins and most of Gaza's 2 million Palestinians reliant on international aid. 

Israel has also continued to strike what it says are gunmen, often killing civilians. 

Aid groups express relief Friday's order was a temporary injunction while the court considers the case. There was no timeline for a final decision. 

“This is, however, a step in the right direction — with a long, long way still to go. We will keep fighting to be able to do our jobs, and deliver life saving assistance to Palestinians in need,” said Athena Rayburn, the executive director of AIDA, an umbrella organization representing over 100 groups operating in the Palestinian territories. 

Lawyers representing the aid groups said the decision has given Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank some “breathing room." 

The petition said the new rules violate international law, and that Israel, as an occupying power, has the obligation to ensure food and medicine reach people. It also says Israel does not have the authority to shutter organizations in areas under the nominal control of the Palestinian Authority. 

COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza, has said that the organizations whose licenses are to be revoked contribute less than 1% of the total aid going into the territory. More than 20 organizations will continue to operate after complying with the new regulations, it said. 

Airstrikes kill at least 5  

Israeli airstrikes overnight killed at least five people, four of them members of the Hamas-run police, officials said Friday. 

Such strikes have repeatedly disrupted the truce since it took effect in October. The escalating Palestinian death toll has left many in Gaza feeling as though the war never ended. 

Three of the five were killed by a strike on a police checkpoint in southern Gaza near Khan Younis, said Dr. Ahmed al-Farra at Nasser Hospital. Another died in a strike on a checkpoint in Bureij refugee camp, according to a statement from the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, which oversees police in Gaza. 

A separate strike in western Khan Younis killed one Palestinian, al-Farra said. 

The Israeli military said it killed several fighters in Rafah, on the border with Egypt. It said the strikes were in response to a violation of the ceasefire. 

The Hamas-run police force has continued to operate in the half the territory under the group's control. The ceasefire agreement calls for Hamas to disarm and hand over power to a committee of Palestinian administrators, and for Israel to withdraw as international forces are deployed. There is no firm timeline for implementing those aspects of the agreement. 

US Embassy provides services in settlement  

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, the US Embassy began offering consular services for the first time Friday in an Israeli settlement. 

The move continues a shift in policy under US President Donald Trump, whose administration has been far friendlier to Israeli settlements in the West Bank than past US leaders. Most of the international community views the settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians. 

People lined up in the settlement of Efrat, where some 4,000 US citizens live. “The United States says Efrat is part of Israel, Efrat is going to be forever here,” the city’s mayor, Dovi Sheffler, said. 

More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements across the West Bank, which is home to around 3 million Palestinians living under military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in population centers. 

The US Embassy has previously provided consular services in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities in the West Bank, which is home to many Palestinian Americans. 

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, territories the Palestinians want for a future state.