Ankara: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, discussed the situation in Gaza and ceasefire efforts.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the two sides discussed in a phone call on Wednesday preparations for upcoming meetings on the Palestinian issue, as well as preparations for the 51st meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, scheduled to be held in Istanbul on the 21st and 22nd of this month.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a genocidal war in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.

The genocide, with US support, has left more than 182,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that has claimed the lives of many, including children.

For 18 years, Israel has besieged Gaza, leaving approximately 1.5 million Palestinians out of a population of approximately 2.4 million homeless after their homes were destroyed in the genocidal war.

Israel has occupied territories in Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon for decades and refuses to withdraw from them or establish an independent Palestinian state with East Quds as its capital, based on the pre-1967 borders.