ISLAMABAD: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has discussed with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon the ways to end Israeli attacks on the blockaded Gaza enclave, attacks which have so far claimed at least 644 Palestinian lives.
Since July 7, Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip with aerial bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire, Anadolu news agency reported.
Gaza-based resistance factions have continued to fire rockets at Israeli cities in response to Israeli bombardments.
In a phone conversation made Tuesday at his request, Ban said the UN attaches great importance to Turkish efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian resistance faction Hamas.
Erdogan, emphasizing that no military solution would be viable in the Israel-Palestine dispute, said initiatives for a permanent peace deal between Israel and Palestine should be finalized.
Israel's military operation, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge," is the Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely populate Gaza Strip - which is home to 1.8 million Palestinians - in the last six years.
Halit Cevik, Turkish ambassador to the UN, condemned Israeli violence during a meeting of the UN Security Council, saying the council should fulfill its responsibility to stop the attacks and start a humanitarian aid campaign in the region.
A draft proposal for a truce and a lifting of the Israeli embargo on Gaza is expected to be distributed in the council Wednesday by Jordan, one of non-permanent members of the council.
Cevik said Turkey supports Palestine's right to be a UN member state and to participate in other international organizations.
Palestine applied for UN membership in 2012, but the appeal has not yet been put on the agenda of the council, the final decision-making body.
The Turkish Prime Ministry's aid campaign in the Gaza Strip started officially Wednesday with the aim of helping Palestinians struggling with famine, drought and health problems amid the attacks and embargo.
The Israeli blockade on Gaza, in place since 2007, includes closing of all border crossings in the territory as well as naval pathways into the strip.
The aid campaign was announced in the Official Gazette on Wednesday.
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