Erdoğan says Netanyahu 'no longer someone we can talk to'

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said he was breaking off contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu due to Israel's actions in Gaza.

"Netanyahu is no longer someone we can talk to. We have written him off," he said. 

Erdoğan's remarks came a week after Israel said it was "re-evaluating" its relations with Ankara.

Israel had earlier withdrawn all diplomats from Türkiye and other regional countries as a security precaution.

Israeli forces have encircled Gaza's largest city, trying to crush Hamas in retaliation for Oct. 7's raids into Israel that officials say killed around 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took some 240 people hostage.

The health ministry in Gaza run by Hamas says more than 9,400 Gazans, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Israeli strikes and the intensifying ground campaign.

Erdoğan said Türkiye was not breaking off diplomatic relations with Israel.

"Completely severing ties is not possible, especially in international diplomacy," the president said.

He said Türkiye's intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın was spearheading Türkiye's efforts to try and mediate an end to the war.

"İbrahim Kalın talking to the Israeli side. Of course, he is also negotiating with Palestine and Hamas," Erdoğan said.

However, he said Netanyahu bore the primary responsibility for the violence and had "lost the support of his own citizens."

"What he needs to do is take a step back and stop this," Erdoğan said.