Turkey's Erdogan: 'Netanyahu's genocidal methods would make Hitler jealous'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again likened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in an interview with the Grecian newspaper Kathimerini on Saturday.

"Netanyahu has reached a level that would make Hitler jealous with his genocidal methods," Erdogan said in response to a question on Turkey's position on the Israel-Hamas war and previous comments he had made regarding the Israeli prime minister.

Furthermore, Erdogan said on Sunday that the United States and European countries were not doing enough to pressure Israel to agree on a ceasefire in Gaza after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas' move to accept a truce proposal.

Turkey has denounced Israel's attacks on Gaza, called for an immediate ceasefire, and criticized what it calls unconditional support for Israel by the West.

Ankara has halted all trade with Israel and said it had decided to join South Africa's initiative to have Israel tried for genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Speaking to Muslim scholars in Istanbul, Erdogan said Hamas had accepted a ceasefire proposal by Qatar and Egypt in a "step in the path toward a lasting ceasefire." Still, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government did not want the war to end.

"The response of the Netanyahu government was to attack the innocent people in Rafah," he said, referring to the Gazan city that Israel is targeting. "It has become clear who sides with peace and dialogue and who wants clashes continuing and more bloodshed.

"And did Netanyahu see any serious reaction to his spoiled behavior? No. Neither Europe nor America showed a reaction that would force Israel into a ceasefire."

Erdogan's intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met with Hamas leaders in Doha on Sunday to discuss ceasefire talks and access to humanitarian aid in Gaza, a Turkish security source said.

Ankara on Friday welcomed the United Nations General Assembly's backing for a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member. Erdogan on Sunday called on countries not recognizing a Palestinian sovereign state to do so after the vote but slammed Washington and others who voted against it.

"We saw that countries who lecture us on human rights and freedoms at every opportunity openly support those who massacred 35,000 Gazans," he said, citing figures from Gaza's health ministry. "We saw that those who said the right to protest was sacred until yesterday can't tolerate demonstrations that support Palestine."