Türkiye will not discuss any energy-related projects with Israel without a cease-fire in Palestine's Gaza as it would be disrespectful to its Palestinian brothers and sisters who are experiencing great brutality, the country’s energy minister has said.
"In an environment of such great brutality, human drama, it would be disrespectful to humanity, to our humanity, to our siblings there (in Palestine) to talk about any project,” energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Tuesday on a private TV channel.
"After the great brutality and cruelty experienced there, the only project we can talk about right now is how we can get Gaza's electricity back on its feet again,” he said, pointing out that life has stopped in the region after the attacks.
“We have sent generators. They are waiting at the Rafah border crossing,” he added.
“How can we contribute there with floating power plants and mobile power plants, which we call power ships? We can bring those people back to their normal lives. It is impossible to talk about anything without a cease-fire."
Bayraktar emphasised that Palestine has a special place in his heart and noted that electricity supply projects to the Middle Eastern country were discussed during negotiations with the Israeli side after 2016.
Over 10,000 Palestinians killed
Israel launched air and ground attacks on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Tuesday that the death toll from Israel’s intensified onslaught on Gaza since then has risen to 10,328.
Among those killed are 4,237 children and 2,719 women, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said at a press conference.
More than 25,956 others have been wounded as a result of attacks by Israeli forces on Gaza, he added.
Amid the soaring death toll, basic necessities are increasingly running out in Gaza after Israel imposed a "full siege" on the enclave that has ground humanitarian aid deliveries to a near halt.
Just over 500 trucks, what would have constituted a day's worth of deliveries prior to the war, have arrived in Gaza in the month since Israel's relentless attacks began.
