The leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Ismaïl Haniyeh will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey “this weekend”, the latter announced on Wednesday. “The leader of the Palestinian cause will be my guest this weekend,” he said before the deputies of his Justice and Development Party in the Assembly.
The head of state did not specify the location of the meeting, but according to the private television NTV, it will be held on Saturday in Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul. It comes after Qatar, one of the mediators in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, admitted on Wednesday that talks aimed at ending hostilities in Gaza and freeing Israeli hostages were “stalling”.
Haniyeh, 61, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, has been a figurehead in the Palestinian Islamist movement for decades.
Last meeting in summer 2023
“Even if only I, Tayyip Erdogan, remain, I will continue as long as God gives me life to defend the Palestinian struggle and be the voice of the oppressed Palestinian people,” the Turkish president began, once again qualifying Hamas’s “resistance.” group”.
The head of state, who has intensified his condemnation of Israel since October, estimated that the Israelis “surpassed Hitler” to blame for the death of “14,000 innocent children” in the Gaza Strip.
His last tête-à-tête in Turkey with Ismaïl Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, dates from the summer of 2023. The Hamas leader was received at the presidential palace in Ankara on July 26 at the same time as the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. Ismaïl Haniyeh has since met discreetly with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Jan. 2 “in Turkey,” according to an official press release that did not specify the location of the tête-à-tête.
Three of his sons killed in the Gaza Strip
On April 10, Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his condolences to the Hamas leader, whose three sons and four grandchildren were killed in the Gaza Strip in an Israeli-led attack in the conflict, which has been raging since October 7. Triggered by an unprecedented attack by Hamas in Israel, it left 1,170 dead, mostly civilians, according to AFP, citing official figures. More than 250 people have been kidnapped and 129 remain in custody in Gaza, including 34 who have died, according to Israeli officials.
Israeli military operations launched in retaliation in the Gaza Strip have left more than 33,899 dead, mostly women and minors, according to Hamas’ health ministry.
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