Turkish ambassador in Bucharest Ozgur Kivanc Altan told a solidarity event with Palestine held on Wednesday by the diplomats of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Romania that a humanitarian catastrophe is happening in Gaza that has to be stopped.

This is not about Islam, Christianity or Judaism, but it's all about humanity. I think we are talking about a humanitarian catastrophe - people destroying people. We need peace, but for that we need a ceasefire. We appreciate Romania's position, because it has recognized the state of Palestine since long, is calling for a ceasefire and for unrestricted humanitarian aid. People are starving. Almost 100 die of hunger every day, and about 20 of the famine casualties are children. (...) We have to do something. We need to put pressure on Israel. There are many good Israelis. The Israelis themselves have said that they do not want this, and told their government to stop, the Turkish ambassador pointed out.

He also praised Romania's position in support of a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, stressing that this catastrophe needs to be put an end to, and a solution by diplomatic avenues be found afterwards.

Ambassador Altan also stressed that Israel's recent attack on Qatar is 'unacceptable', a violation of international law, an inadmissible violation of airspace.

In his turn, ambassador of the State of Qatar, Osama Yousef Alqaradawi, described the strike as 'an attack on sovereignty', and voiced appreciation for Romania's position of openly condemning Israel's attack on his country.

The diplomat also highlighted the role of Qatar as a mediator in the Middle East conflict, and in the freeing of hundreds of the Hamas-held hostages.

Palestinian ambassador Issam Masalha said that approximately 64,000 people - including 18,000 children and over 17,000 women - have been killed in the conflict.

Assembled in front of the Palestinian Embassy in Bucharest, the OIC diplomats also issued a joint statement calling for a resolution to settle the conflict and condemning the loss of human lives.

Prior to this event, they met with Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu, advocating increased aid for the Palestinian people and cautioning that Israel's initiative to displace Palestinians from their homeland 'is a violation of international humanitarian law'.

The diplomats commended the fact that Romania condemned Tuesday's attack on Qatar, as well as its support for evacuations and medical aid for the Gaza people. In the statement, the OIC representatives brought to mind that 1.5 million Palestinians have fled their homes due to the conflict, and this dire humanitarian situation has also been highlighted by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

The event was attended by diplomats accredited to Bucharest from the following states: Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Türkiye. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Oana Ghita; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)