Turkiye links Israel’s inclusion in regional bloc to Palestinian statehood

• Foreign Minister Fidan says platform may include Pakistan, Turkiye, S. Arabia, Egypt, Gulf states and potentially Iran
• Gaza death toll nears 73,000 with seven more killings in a day

TURKIYE’S Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, has said that Israel can join a cooperative “regional platform” if it recognises a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, according to an Al Jazeera report.

“If that problem is solved, I think the security of Israel will be very much assisted by the regional countries, too,” he told Nikkei Asia.

Fidan said this framework could include Pakistan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, other Gulf countries, and “when things come [back to] normal, maybe Iran should also be part of it”.

“All the countries in the region should be committing to each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and security,” Fidan told Nikkei.

These comments come as Turkiye is expected to host a pivotal Nato summit in July in Ankara.

On Monday, Trump laid out his vision for expanding the Abraham Accords, a series of normalisation deals between Israel and nearby Arab states.

“It should be mandatory that all of these countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords,” he wrote on Truth Social, listing six countries, including Turkiye and Egypt, which already have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

Israel’s genocidal war

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says the death toll from Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave has risen to 72,938, with 172,919 people wounded since October 7, 2023.

In its latest update, the ministry said hospitals across Gaza received seven bodies over the past 24 hours, including six people killed in recent Israeli attacks and one person who later died from wounds sustained earlier.

Another 25 wounded people were brought to medical facilities during the same period.

The ministry added that since the “ceasefire” took effect on October 11, Israeli attacks have killed 929 Palestinians and wounded 2,811 others.

It also said that 781 bodies have been recovered during that period as rescue teams continue searching areas previously inaccessible due to ongoing military operations and destruction.

At least 260 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, making it the deadliest conflict for media workers.

Over 1.9 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been internally displaced within the territory, many of them multiple times. More than 1.2 million people — almost 60 per cent of Gaza’s population—have lost their homes.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2026