ISTANBUL, December 5. /TASS/. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration is using the military operation in Gaza to extend its political life, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

"The Netanyahu administration is committing crimes against humanity, war crimes, in a bid to extend its political life while putting the security of our entire region in danger," Erdogan said at a summit of Persian Gulf countries in Doha, as cited by the TRT Haber TV channel. He pointed out that Israel’s military operations had killed about 17,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

According to Erdogan, Ankara has sent two planes and two civilian ships with humanitarian aid for Gazans, transferring the sick and the wounded to Turkey for medical treatment. The Turkish president noted that Ankara’s priority was to establish an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, ensure lasting peace and unhindered humanitarian aid deliveries to the region, as well as resolving the Palestine issue based on the two-state principle. "Recent developments only confirm the need to create an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in Eastern Jerusalem," he said.

Erdogan also highlighted the need to prevent the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from spilling over into Syria. "We cannot allow the Gaza massacre to expand into a war that will engulf Syria," the Turkish leader stressed.