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Türkiye joined 13 other countries Friday in condemning what they called "unprecedented and systematic measures" by Israel against the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, as a newly formed international Peace Council began coordinating humanitarian relief and governance structures for Gaza.
The joint statement, issued by the Core Group of nations supporting UNRWA, expressed "deep concern and condemnation" over Israeli actions against the agency's premises in occupied East Jerusalem this week. The signatories - including Algeria, Brazil, Belgium, Ireland, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Norway, Palestine, Portugal, Qatar, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, and Türkiye - accused Israel of actions that "undermine UNRWA's UN mandate, violate international law, the UN Charter and are contrary to the findings of the International Court of Justice."
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking in a live NTV interview the same day, said efforts to resolve the Gaza crisis are transitioning from battlefield confrontation to negotiation as the Peace Council established this week in Davos begins operations.
"We are entering a period where the struggle that has been on the ground is coming to the negotiation table," Fidan said, adding that the international community must mount a qualified struggle based on humanitarian and universal values. "Not everything is rosy."
The joint statement called on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law, including provisions of the UN Charter and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. The signatories demanded Israel cease demolition of the UNRWA Sheikh Jarrah compound and return and restore the compound and other UNRWA premises to the United Nations without delay.
"Israel has no sovereign rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and any application of its laws or claims seeking to alter the status of the Holy City and other National Premises are unlawful and without legal effect," the statement read.
The Core Group stressed that UNRWA continues to provide indispensable services to Palestine refugees across the region despite "enormous political, operational and financial pressures." The agency delivers life-saving assistance and essential services to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, until a just and lasting peace is reached through implementation of relevant UN resolutions and a two-state solution.
The statement reaffirmed support for UNRWA and its General Assembly mandate, calling for a halt to all attacks and measures against the agency.
The Peace Council, whose charter Fidan signed at the Davos ceremony alongside U.S. President Donald Trump and other officials, has established two initial committees beneath its framework. One 15-member body composed of Palestinians will assume responsibility for Gaza's civil administration, while a second committee will handle the Council's secretariat functions. An International Stability Force is planned as a fourth component.
Fidan said membership could expand from the current participants to 25-30 countries, with six or seven nations requesting additional time before joining. While the charter's mission definition is broad, the immediate focus remains Gaza, where concrete steps are urgently needed.
In the ceremony's immediate aftermath, relevant ministers held a small-scale initial meeting to discuss humanitarian aid entry and the Palestinian committee's first actions once operational, Fidan said.
The foreign minister explained his decision to use his own pen at the signing ceremony rather than the one provided, noting that Trump also used a special pen and that he was representing his country at an important moment.
Türkiye has maintained continuous humanitarian shipments to Gaza through civil society organizations, the Red Crescent, and disaster management agency AFAD, coordinated by a special envoy and ambassador handling diplomatic obstacles. The primary bottleneck has been moving aid from Egypt's Arish Port to the Rafah Border Crossing and then across into Gaza.
Since the ceasefire began, entries have gradually increased. Basic food supplies have made substantial progress entering the territory, according to Fidan, though medical supplies remain insufficient. The most critical need now is shelter, particularly as winter weather batters a population largely confined to tents.
"As long as you are condemned to tents in this cold, windy, and rainy weather, you cannot provide adequate shelter quality," Fidan said, noting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's particular sensitivity to the issue. Türkiye has intensified efforts to transport containers that can provide basic protection from cold and heat.
The Rafah Border Crossing could reopen for two-way traffic within the coming week, Fidan said, calling it an important route for delivering timely and sufficient aid to Palestinians.
The foreign minister said work is underway with UN humanitarian officials to restore operations of UNRWA. Once the Rafah crossing reopens and the Palestinian local administration enters Gaza, distribution systems will be established without difficulty, he said.
When asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement that Türkiye and Qatar would not participate in the Stability Force, Fidan dismissed the objection as consistent with Netanyahu's opposition to Turkish involvement throughout the process, including President Erdogan's participation in the Peace Council and Fidan's own role in the Gaza Management Council.
"He was against it, he will continue to be against it," Fidan said. "We will continue to wage our own struggle."
Erdogan has demonstrated resolve to do whatever is necessary to resolve Palestinian issues, including providing military assistance if appropriate conditions emerge, Fidan said. Turkish diplomacy is currently working to establish or assess those conditions and understand relevant sensitivities.
On Hamas disarmament, Fidan emphasized the issue must be understood within the roadmap's interconnected framework rather than as an isolated demand. Hamas has not only functioned as a resistance movement against occupation but also provided local police and security services as Gaza's governing authority.
"When new Palestinian police enter to provide security, when there is order among the people, no theft, no kidnapping, when security services begin to be provided, when humanitarian aid comes, when the international community guarantees there will be no more attacks, this will happen in parallel with these," Fidan said. Disconnecting the question from context produces meaningless answers, he added, urging Western counterparts to pose conditional questions about Israeli withdrawal and international guarantees alongside disarmament inquiries.
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Türkiye's primary objective in Gaza is ensuring the population remains in place, Fidan emphasized. After the October 7 attacks, Israel's operations aimed not only at killing but at forcing displacement through deliberately creating unlivable conditions, he said, using the term "genocide operations."
"They established such unlivable conditions that people seeing these conditions would have no choice but to accept when offered to go somewhere," Fidan said. "They set up this equation very well. Because we read this, we fought to implement other diplomatic steps that would break this equation, other actors, other stakeholders, other elements of the international system. Our number one priority is this: that the population there remains there."
Fidan also addressed the emerging role of middle powers in international affairs, saying countries including Canada, Britain, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan, and Australia need to meet and coordinate more frequently. With major powers entering a period of uncertainty and creating vacuums through their own power struggles, middle powers with similar military, political, technological, demographic, and economic capabilities must hold a certain line within the international system, he said, describing this as a newly developing issue.
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