The leaders of Turkey and Israel have engaged in a war of words over human rights amid fallout from the deadly Gaza protests. Belgium also summoned the Israeli ambassador over controversial statements about the violence.
Image: Getty Images/S. Platt
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On Tuesday, the Israeli government ordered Turkey's consul in Jerusalem to leave the country for an indeterminate amount of time, as Ankara demanded the same of Israel's ambassador. The Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed that the move was a direct response to recent violence on the Gaza border that has claimed at least 60 lives.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of running an "apartheid state," bent on "genocide," saying he had the dead protesters' blood on his hands.
"Erdogan is one of the biggest supporters of Hamas, so there's no doubt he's an expert on terror and slaughter," Netanyahu wrote on Twitter, referencing the militant Palestinian organization. "I'd suggest he doesn't preach morality to us."
Turkey was once an important Israeli ally in the region, but ties have deteriorated steadily since Ankara criticized an Israeli offensive in Gaza in 2008. Things got even worse between the two nations in 2010, when Israeli commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish-registered ship filled with activists that tried to break Israel's blockade of Gaza. Nine activists were killed in the operation.
Belgium summons Israeli ambassador
As Netanyahu and Erdogan traded barbs, the Belgian Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador over controversial statements she made about the Gaza violence.
Foreign Minister Didier Reynders expressed his dismay that Ambassador Simona Frankel had described all of the dead — some of whom were children — as "terrorists."
"That we can obviously not accept," Reynders said, also taking exception to the claim from Frankel that Israeli soldiers acted preemptively to prevent casualties on their side. "There were two statements I could not accept: one on proportionality of force by saying they could not wait for Israeli casualties — there were none."
The deaths have been condemned around the world, from governments such as those of Germany and France as well as by well-known activists including Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
How the Gaza protests against Israel escalated this year
The origin of conflicts in the region could be dated back centuries but this year has seen some key events leading to an escalation in the tension between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza.
Image: Reuters/A. Cohen
Palestinian PM Rami Hamdallah targeted
The convoy of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah of the West Bank-based Fatah group was targeted as he made a rare visit to Gaza on March 13. The Palestinian Authority said it held Hamas responsible, having failed to provide adequate security. Hamas claimed the attack was aimed at hurting efforts to achieve unity and reconciliation.
Image: Reuters/I. Abu Mustafa
Land Day march
Some 30,000 Palestinians took part in the first of the demonstrations on March 30, marking Land Day, named for the 1976 Arab protests against Israeli plans to expropriate land. Some demonstrators ran at the border fence and 16 were killed by Israeli troops with others injured, and some dying later.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Hams
Netanyahu: 'We will hurt them'
Speaking on April 9 in the Israeli town of Sderot, near Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We have one clear and simple rule and we seek to express it constantly: If someone tries to attack you — rise up and attack him. We will not allow, here on the Gaza border, them to hurt us. We will hurt them."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Tibbon
Protesters injured
Palestinians ran to help a young man injured during the border protest on April 13. Stones had been thrown at border guards and the Israeli troops fired on the demonstrators. Some 45 Palestinians died and hundreds were injured between March 30 and April 27.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Hams
Boy killed on April 20
Protest continued on April 20th, with some Palestinian protesters using kites to transport Molotov cocktails and firebombs over the fence. Israeli snipers killed at least four more Palestinians on April 20th, including a 15-year-old boy. The UN Middle East envoy dubbed the killing "outrageous."
Image: Getty Images/S. Khatib
May 15: US Embassy officially moved to Jerusalem from Tel-Aviv
US President Donald Trump's daugher Ivanka is part of the delegation that opened the new US Embassy in Jerusalem. The transfer of the embassy triggered a fresh wave of protests in which 62 people were killed. The deaths have considerably heightened tensions in the area.
Image: Reuters/R. Zvulun
US no longer seen as partner in Middle East negotiations
As the US celebrated its embassy move from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, Palestinian protests escalated. The events coincided with the 70th anniversary of the foundation of modern-day Israel, and Nakba Day, when Palestinians recall those who fled or were expelled as Israel was established.
Image: Reuters/I. Abu Mustafa
More than 60 people were killed in protests
Palestinians carried away a protester injured on May 15th after demonstrations marking the 70th anniversary of Nakba.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Khatib
Palestinian youths run from tear gas
Hamas official Salah al-Bardaweel said on Palestinian television that all but 12 of the dead were members of Hamas. Mahmoud Abbas the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization is planning to pursue a war crimes complaint against Israel at the International Criminal Court.
Image: Reuters/I. Abu Mustafa
Israeli airstrikes pound Hamas military targets in Gaza
Following an increase in cross-border violence in mid-July, Israel pounded Hamas military targets in Gaza, while Palestinian militants fired more than 170 rockets and mortars into Israel. Two Palestinian boys, aged 15 and 16, were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to Gaza's health ministry. Three Israelis were injured after a rocket landed on a residential home in the Israeli city of Sderot.
Image: picture-alliance/newscom/I. Mohamad
Israel temporarily closes its Kerem Shalom cargo crossing with the Gaza Strip
Days later, Israel blocked all fuel and gas transfers through the Kerem Shalom crossing with the Gaza Strip for six days "in light of the continued terrorist attempts of Hamas." Israel's defense ministry said essential food and medicine deliveries would still get through. The crossing had been shuttered to commercial trade a week earlier.
