Erdogan, Abbas Adhere to Two-State Solution as Key for Peace in Middle East

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ankara on Tuesday (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ankara on Tuesday (Reuters)
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Erdogan, Abbas Adhere to Two-State Solution as Key for Peace in Middle East

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ankara on Tuesday (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ankara on Tuesday (Reuters)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas affirmed on Tuesday their adherence to the two-state solution to establish a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, as a basis for achieving peace and stability in the Middle East.

During a joint press conference held in Ankara, the two presidents also rejected any practices that undermine the rights and sanctities of the Palestinian people.

“We by no means accept actions aimed at changing the status of al-Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque,” Erdogan stressed following talks with his Palestinian counterpart.

The President said that Türkiye has recognized the State of Palestine from the moment it was proclaimed and defends the vision of a two-state solution on every platform.

“The steps taken in our relations with Israel will in no way reduce our support for the Palestinian cause,” Erdogan said. “On the contrary, our Palestinian brothers also express that these steps will contribute to a solution to the Palestinian issue and improve the situation of the Palestinian people."

Abbas’ visit to Türkiye, at the invitation of Erdogan, came a week after Israel and Türkiye announced they were restoring full diplomatic relations in the latest step in months of reconciliation between the two countries.

In the Turkish capital, Abbas expressed his deep appreciation for the consistent position of Erdogan in support of the Palestinian people to obtain their legitimate rights to freedom and independence, as well as maintaining Palestinian national unity.

Abbas said that he seeks to advance bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries to new horizons of cooperation and exchange in various fields.

The President then stressed that the Palestinian leadership will not accept the aggressive practices of the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people, lands, and holy sites.

Abbas reiterated that achieving peace and security begins with a complete halt to undermining the two-state solution by the Israeli occupation authorities.

“The daily incursions by the occupation authorities into Palestinian cities, villages and camps, and what happened a few days ago with the closure of Palestinian civil and human rights institutions, ignites the situation,” he said, noting that these criminal practices cannot be tolerated and must stop before it is too late.

Abbas said that the meeting with Erdogan was also an opportunity to exchange points of view on the overall regional and international situation and highlight the important role that Ankara plays in global food security in light of the difficult circumstances the world is going through.

Erdogan held an official reception ceremony for the Palestinian president at the presidential palace in Ankara.

Both Presidents then held bilateral talks, and a press conference and later attended a dinner banquet held in Abbas’ honor.



Gaza Doctors Cram Babies into Incubators as Fuel Shortage Threatens Hospitals

Smoke rises in Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Smoke rises in Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
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Gaza Doctors Cram Babies into Incubators as Fuel Shortage Threatens Hospitals

Smoke rises in Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Smoke rises in Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

At Gaza's largest hospital, doctors say crippling fuel shortages have led them to put several premature babies in a single incubator as they struggle to keep the newborns alive while Israel presses on with its military campaign.

Overwhelmed medics say the dwindling fuel supplies threaten to plunge them into darkness and paralyze hospitals and clinics in the Palestinian territory, where health services have been pummeled during 21 months of war.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the fate of Israeli hostages in Gaza with US President Donald Trump in Washington this week, patients at Al Shifa medical center in Gaza City faced imminent danger, doctors there said.

"We are forced to place four, five, or sometimes three premature babies in one incubator," said Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmia, Al Shifa's director.

"Premature babies are now in a very critical condition."

The threat comes from "neither an airstrike nor a missile — but a siege choking the entry of fuel," Dr. Muneer Alboursh, director general of the Gaza Ministry of Health, told Reuters.

The shortage is "depriving these vulnerable people of their basic right to medical care, turning the hospital into a silent graveyard," he said.

Gaza, a tiny strip of land with a population of more than 2 million, was under a long, Israeli-led blockade before the war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas erupted.

Palestinians and medical workers have accused the Israeli military of attacking hospitals, allegations it rejects.

Israel accuses Hamas of operating from medical facilities and running command centers underneath them, which Hamas denies.

Patients in need of medical care, food and water are paying the price.

There have been more than 600 attacks on health facilities since the conflict began, the WHO says, without attributing blame. It has described the health sector in Gaza as being "on its knees", with shortages of fuel, medical supplies and frequent arrivals of mass casualties.

Just half of Gaza's 36 general hospitals are partially functioning, according to the UN agency.

Abu Selmia warned of a humanitarian catastrophe and accused Israel of "trickle-feeding" fuel to Gaza's hospitals.

COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about fuel shortages at Gaza's medical facilities and the risk to patients.

OXYGEN RISK

Abu Selmia said Al Shifa's dialysis department had been shut down to protect the intensive care unit and operating rooms, which can't be without electricity for even a few minutes.

There are around 100 premature babies in Gaza City hospitals whose lives are at serious risk, he said. Before the war, there were 110 incubators in northern Gaza compared to about 40 now, said Abu Selmia.

"Oxygen stations will stop working. A hospital without oxygen is no longer a hospital. The lab and blood banks will shut down, and the blood units in the refrigerators will spoil," Abu Selmia said, adding that the hospital could become "a graveyard for those inside".

Officials at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis are also wondering how they will cope with the fuel crisis. The hospital needs 4,500 liters of fuel per day and it now has only 3,000 liters, said hospital spokesperson Mohammed Sakr.

Doctors are performing surgeries without electricity or air conditioning. The sweat from staff is dripping into patients' wounds, he said.

Earlier this year, Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza for nearly three months, before partly lifting it. Israel accuses Hamas of diverting aid, something Hamas denies.

"You can have the best hospital staff on the planet, but if they are denied the medicines and the pain killers and now the very means for a hospital to have light ... it becomes an impossibility," said James Elder, a spokesperson for UN children's agency UNICEF, recently returned from Gaza.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Gaza's health ministry says Israel's response has killed over 57,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced almost all Gaza's population and prompted accusations of genocide and war crimes, which Israel denies.