No Peace in Palestine Until Israel Ends the Occupation

Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said there would be no peace in Palestine unless Israel ends its occupation.

"The problem is the occupation and without ending it, there will be no peace, no security, no prosperity for anyone," Kalin said.

"Thanks to the irresponsible and populist policies of the Trump and Netanyahu governments, peace has never been so far," he added.
The number of Palestinians who were victims of Israeli gunfire during Monday's protests in the eastern Gaza Strip rose to 64. Hundreds more were wounded.

The protests were part of a weeks-long rally that marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel - an event the Palestinians called "Nakba" or the Day of Calamity - and relocated the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Since the rally began on March 30, more than 110 Palestinians have been killed and thousands more injured by Israeli gunfire, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

"This is the end of Donald Trump's government role in the Middle East peace process," Kalin writes.

He said the US move to relocate its embassy also undermined any hope left to a two-state solution, calling it the last nail in the coffin.

Trump sparked international condemnation last December when he unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and vowed to relocate the US Embassy to the city.

Kalin said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not cover up his crimes and domestic problems by attacking President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"He may enjoy the relative silence of the international community and the split and the sluggishness of the Arab world, but he can never destroy the will of the Palestinian people and our support for them," he said.