ANKARA, January 16. /TASS/. As long as the conflict in the Gaza Strip continues with no resolution, it will provoke new flare-ups of violent conflict in other regions, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned at a press conference with his Croatian counterpart, Gordan Radman, in Ankara.

"We have repeatedly discussed the risk of the conflict in Gaza spreading to other regions. While everyone was waiting for the tensions to escalate in Lebanon, they flared up in other places. Flare-ups in the Red Sea, Iraq, Syria are the precursors that the spiral of war in Gaza will turn into a whirlwind," the top Turkish diplomat said. Fidan urged the international community to "support the efforts to reach a permanent ceasefire in Gaza" and noted "several countries have de facto endorsed Israel's actions."

The Turkish foreign minister emphasized that no resolution to the conflict would be possible without an equitable approach, and mutual respect for the interests and rights of both Palestine and Israel. "The principle prioritizing Israel's security at the expense of Palestine will not bring peace. Many countries are not trying to influence the situation. Our country will continue to work for peace and make all possible efforts to ensure that the international community responds appropriately to the massacres perpetrated by Israel," Fidan said.

The situation in the Middle East escalated sharply on October 7 of last year after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged surprise incursions from Gaza into borderline Israeli communities, killing residents of Israeli kibbutzim and taking more than 240 people as hostages, including children, women and the elderly. The radicals described the attack as a response to the aggressive actions of the Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel announced a complete blockade of Gaza and launched retaliatory strikes and a ground military operation against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave as well as strikes on parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported in the West Bank.