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Türkiye Recalls Envoy to Israel, ‘Writes Off’ Netanyahu

Smoke rises from the town of Beit Hanon, located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, as a result of an Israeli airstrike, as seen from Sderot, Israel, 04 November 2023. (EPA)
Smoke rises from the town of Beit Hanon, located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, as a result of an Israeli airstrike, as seen from Sderot, Israel, 04 November 2023. (EPA)
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Türkiye Recalls Envoy to Israel, ‘Writes Off’ Netanyahu

Smoke rises from the town of Beit Hanon, located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, as a result of an Israeli airstrike, as seen from Sderot, Israel, 04 November 2023. (EPA)
Smoke rises from the town of Beit Hanon, located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, as a result of an Israeli airstrike, as seen from Sderot, Israel, 04 November 2023. (EPA)

Türkiye said Saturday it was recalling its ambassador to Israel and breaking off contacts with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in protest at the bloodshed in Gaza.

Ankara announced the decisions on the eve of what promises to be a difficult visit to Türkiye by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Palestinian ally Türkiye had been mending torn relations with Israel until last month's start of the Israel-Hamas war.

But its tone hardened against both Israel and its Western supporters -- particularly the United States -- as the fighting escalated and the death toll among Palestinian civilians soared.

The Turkish foreign ministry said ambassador Sakir Ozkan Torunlar was being recalled for consultations "in view of the unfolding humanitarian tragedy in Gaza caused by the continuing attacks by Israel against civilians, and Israel's refusal (to accept) a ceasefire".

Israeli forces have encircled Gaza's largest city while trying to crush Hamas in retaliation for October 7 raids into Israel that officials say killed around 1,400 people -- mostly civilians -- and saw some 240 people taken hostage.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says around 9,500 people -- mostly women and children -- have since been killed in Israeli strikes and the intensifying ground campaign.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan separately told reporters that he held Netanyahu personally responsible for the growing civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip.

"Netanyahu is no longer someone we can talk to. We have written him off," Turkish media quoted Erdogan as saying.

'Stop this'

Israel had earlier withdrawn all diplomats from Türkiye and other regional countries as a security precaution.

The Israeli foreign ministry said last weekend it was "re-evaluating" relations with Ankara because of Türkiye’s increasingly heated rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war.

Erdogan said Saturday that Türkiye could not afford to entirely break off diplomatic contacts between the sides.

"Completely severing ties is not possible, especially in international diplomacy," Erdogan said.

He said MIT intelligence agency chief Ibrahim Kalin was spearheading Türkiye’s efforts to try and mediate an end to the war.

"Ibrahim Kalin is talking to the Israeli side. Of course, he is also negotiating with Palestine and Hamas," Erdogan said.

But he said Netanyahu bore primary responsibility for the violence and had "lost the support of his own citizens".

"What he needs to do is take a step back and stop this," Erdogan said.

The Turkish leader had taken a far more cautious tone in the first days of the war.

Israel and Türkiye had only last year agreed to reappoint ambassadors after a decade of all but frozen relations.

They were also resuming discussions on a US-backed natural gas pipeline project that could have formed the basis for much closer and more lasting cooperation in the coming years.

But Erdogan led a massive rally in Istanbul last weekend during which he accused the Israeli government of behaving like a "war criminal" and trying to "eradicate" Palestinians.

Still more protests will greet Blinken on Sunday when the top US diplomat begins a two-day visit to Ankara marking the last leg of his Middle East tour.

The IHH humanitarian relief fund -- a group whose attempts to organize a flotilla to Gaza in 2010 sparked Israeli raids that claimed 10 civilian lives -- is organizing a protest march and car rally on a military base in southeastern Türkiye housing US weapons and troops.

The IHH convoy is expected to reach the Incirlik Air Base from Istanbul on Sunday.

Blinken was meeting with Arab counterparts in the Jordanian capital Amman on Saturday after visiting Israel the day before.

But he left Israel empty-handed after urging its leaders to do more to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip.

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Nepalis Fear More Floods as Climate Change Melts Glaciers

Residents told AFP they are afraid to return to their home in the Himalayan foothills as there are 'still lakes above'. Migma NURU SHERPA / AFP
Residents told AFP they are afraid to return to their home in the Himalayan foothills as there are 'still lakes above'. Migma NURU SHERPA / AFP
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Nepalis Fear More Floods as Climate Change Melts Glaciers

Residents told AFP they are afraid to return to their home in the Himalayan foothills as there are 'still lakes above'. Migma NURU SHERPA / AFP
Residents told AFP they are afraid to return to their home in the Himalayan foothills as there are 'still lakes above'. Migma NURU SHERPA / AFP

Mingma Rita Sherpa was not home when the muddy torrent roared into his village in Nepal without warning, but when he returned, he did not recognize his once beautiful settlement.
It took just moments for freezing floodwaters to engulf Thame in the foothills of Mount Everest, a disaster that climate change scientists say is an ominous sign of things to come in the Himalayan nation, AFP reported.
"There is no trace of our house... nothing is left," Sherpa said. "It took everything we owned."
Nepal is reeling from its worst flooding in decades after ferocious monsoon rains swelled rivers and inundated entire neighborhoods in the capital Kathmandu, killing at least 236 people.
Last weekend's disaster was the latest of several disastrous floods to hit the country this year.
Thame was submerged in August by a glacial lake that burst high in the mountains above the small village, famous for its mountaineering residents.
It was once home to Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, the first person to climb the world's highest mountain Everest, along with New Zealander Edmund Hillary.
"We are afraid to return, there are still lakes above," Sherpa said.
"The fertile land is gone. It is hard to see a future there," he added, speaking from the capital Kathmandu, where he has moved.
A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is the sudden release of water collected in former glacier beds.
These lakes are formed by the retreat of glaciers, with the warmer temperatures of human-caused climate change turbocharging the melting of the icy reservoirs.
Glacial lakes are often unstable because they are dammed by ice or loose debris.
'Rebuild or relocate'
Thame was a popular stop during the trekking season, perched at an altitude of 3,800 meters (12,470 feet) beneath soaring snow-capped peaks.
But in August, during the monsoon rains, the village was largely empty.
No one was killed, but the flood destroyed half of the village's 54 homes, a clinic and a hostel. It also wiped out a school started by Hillary.
Sherpa, like many in the village, ran a lodge for foreign trekkers. He also worked as a technician at a hydropower plant, a key source of electricity in the region. That too was damaged.
"Some are trying to rebuild, but the land is not stable," he said. "Parts continue to erode."
Thame's residents are scattered, some staying in neighboring villages, others in Kathmandu.
Local official Mingma Chiri Sherpa said the authorities were surveying the area to assess the risks.
"Our focus right now is to aid the survivors," he said. "We are working to help the residents rebuild or relocate".
'Predict and prepare'
Experts say that the flood in Thame was part of a frightening pattern. Glaciers are receding at an alarming rate.
Hundreds of glacial lakes formed from glacial melt have appeared in recent decades.
In 2020, more than 2,000 were mapped across Nepal by experts from the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), with 21 identified as potentially dangerous.
Nepal has drained lakes in the past, and is planning to drain at least four more.
ICIMOD geologist Sudan Bikash Maharjan examined satellite images of the Thame flood, concluding it was a glacial lake outburst.
"We need to strengthen our monitoring... so that we can, at least to some extent, predict and prepare," he said.
"The risks are there... so our mountain communities must be made aware so they can be prepared".
Scientists warn of a two-stage impact.
Initially, melting glaciers trigger destructive floods. Eventually, the glaciers will dry up, bringing even greater threats.
Glaciers in the wider Himalayan and Hindu Kush ranges provide crucial water for around 240 million people in the mountainous regions.
Another 1.65 billion people depend on them in the South Asian and Southeast Asian river valleys below.
- 'Himalayas have changed' -
Former residents of Thame are raising funds, including Kami Rita Sherpa, who climbed Everest for a record 30th time this year.
Kami Rita Sherpa said the locale had long been a source of pride as a "village of mountaineers", but times had changed.
"The place has no future now", he said. "We are living at risk -- not just Thame, other villages downhill also need to be alert."
The veteran mountaineer said his beloved mountains were under threat.
"The Himalayas have changed," he said. "We have now not only seen the impact of climate change, but experienced its dangerous consequences too."