Turkey calls on Israel to end ‘civilian massacre’

Turkish Deputy Premier Bekir Bozdağ on Wednesday called on Israel to end the "disproportionate use of force against unarmed civilians" in the Gaza Strip.

In a series of tweets, Bozdağ said Israel was conducting "a civilian massacre".

"The Israeli government should immediately put an end to use of disproportionate force, attack and massacre of civilians and innocents."

He criticized countries and international organizations for keeping silent on the brutality, massacre and human rights violation of Israel.

"We have seen how the countries and international organizations [...] have kept silent when massacres, human rights violations, killing of civilians, innocents and law are being committed by Israel," he said.

All of these terms were just "a mask to cover their real faces", Bozdağ said, adding: "The mask has been lifted."

He also criticized organizations for not supporting Turkey's fight against terrorism in northern Syria.

"I called on those who unjustly criticized Turkey despite not a single civilian getting hurt during the Operation Olive Branch [in Syria's Afrin city] to condemn, take stance against Israel," he added.

Last Friday, tens of thousands of Palestinians converged on the Gaza Strip's roughly 45-kilometer (28-mile) eastern border with Israel to reaffirm their right to return to their ancestral homes in historical Palestine.

Since then, at least 17 protesters have been killed near the border by Israeli army gunfire.

In the run-up to the protests last week, Israel deployed thousands of troops along the fraught border, vowing to use deadly force against anyone who threatened Israel's "security infrastructure".

Friday's rallies kicked off a six-week protest that will culminate on May 15, which will mark the 70th anniversary of Israel's establishment -- an event Palestinians refer to as the "Nakba" or "Catastrophe".