First lady warns Israel has crossed 'red line' in Gaza

ANKARA

Turkish first lady Emine Erdoğan has issued a stark warning to declare that Israel has crossed a "red line" in its actions in Gaza, calling attention to the devastating toll of the recent attacks on civilians, particularly children.

"Every conscientious person's red line should be the life of an innocent person taken for a crime he did not commit, or a baby's tear or a child's cry of 'I want to live,'" Erdoğan told U.S. weekly magazine Newsweek in an exclusive interview.

She raised the targeting of civilian settlements, including U.N. institutions, and the desperate pleas from humanitarian aid workers.

"In our religion, the killing of an innocent person is akin to the 'death of humanity,'" she declared.

The first lady asked the global community, "What red line can we possibly discuss while we are burying our humanity one by one with our Palestinian sisters and brothers who are being slaughtered?"

Expressing deep concern over the "prolonged silence from the global community" in the face of weeks-long attacks, Erdoğan questioned the awareness of the potential long-term consequences. "How aware are we that the cost of these 40 days of silence will be years of mending and rebuilding of trust?" she said.

"We will go to whatever length to restore trust, stability and peace in the region and across the world," the first lady declared.