ANKARA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday slammed Israel's "piracy and banditry" against the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla "in the strongest terms."
Israel's attacks on the aid mission will not stop global solidarity with Palestinians, or the pursuit of justice, Erdogan said during his address to the nation following a weekly cabinet meeting in Ankara's presidential complex.
He urged the global community to act against Israel's "lawless actions."
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli commando forces "stopped" ships from the Global Sumud Flotilla from reaching Gaza.
The flotilla also confirmed that Israel began on Monday morning to intercept its boats in international waters, about 250 nautical miles from Gaza's coast.
Activists and medical staff set sail with more than 50 vessels of the humanitarian flotilla from Türkiye's Marmaris coast on Thursday, in a third attempt to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and deliver aid to Palestinians.
But Netanyahu called the flotilla a "malicious plan to break the isolation we have imposed on Hamas militants in Gaza."
At least 72,763 people have been killed and 172,664 others injured in Gaza by Israeli fire since October 2023, according to Gaza-based health authorities. ■
