Erdogan says Israel must allow humanitarian aid into Gaza via Egypt

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Israel needed to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip through Egypt's Rafah crossing after the first plane carrying Turkish aid arrived in Egypt.

In a speech in Istanbul, Erdogan said Turkey will continue sending aid to Gaza in cooperation with Egypt and that Turkish authorities were continuing contacts to free hostages and find a solution to the crisis, reports Reuters.

Earlier on Friday, Erdogan discussed the Palestine-Israel conflict with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, reports Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah.

Erdogan told Macron that violations of human rights in Gaza against civilians were unacceptable, and Western countries need to take steps to ease tensions and serve peace, the Turkish Presidency's Directorate of Communications said in a statement.

Erdogan also highlighted the need for the international community to heed Turkey's calls for a two-state solution to the issue to end the issue permanently.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministry of Turkey said Israel's call for Gazans to move south in 24 hours ahead of its planned ground offensive was inhumane and a violation of international law.

"Forcing the Gaza population of 2.5 million, who have been under indiscriminate bombing and deprived collectively of electricity, water and food, to relocate in an extremely small area is a blatant breach of international law and inhumane," Turkey's foreign ministry said.

"We expect Israel to give up on this serious mistake and put an end to brutal and indiscriminate actions towards the civilian population in Gaza immediately," it said in a statement.