Haaretz Journalist Gideon Levy in Turkey: 'The world should stop Israel'

Gideon Levy, an Israeli journalist for Haaretz, called on "international powers" to enter the Gaza Strip Thursday, while he participated in the TRT World 2023 forum in Istanbul, Turkey. His calls reportedly were for international powers to enter the strip to put a ceasefire in place.

According to a statement made by Levy, "There must be a ceasefire in the current war as soon as possible, and some international powers need to enter Gaza for that to happen."

"The Israeli media and international media should not be put in the same equation in terms of how they reflect what is happening in Gaza," Levy said. He pointed out that compared to the media in Israel, the international media published pictures of the destruction in Gaza to the whole world, and emphasized that they acted fairly in this matter. In his words, he emphasized - "everyone should see what is happening in Gaza."

"It is the duty of everyone in the world today to see injured children, to see quite a street, to see lifeless bodies, to see hospitals. Everyone should see it," he said. In comparison to the Israeli media, Levy said: "I cannot say the same about the Israeli media, which systematically, deliberately, and willingly hid what was happening from Israeli viewers and readers. He also added: "The Israelis don't see anything because they don't want to see."

Is a long-term solution possible?

The journalist also drew attention to the difficulty of reaching a peaceful and long-term solution in Gaza and emphasized that the siege on Gaza must end: "It is impossible to keep 2.3 million people in a cage for 16 years. This has to end now. I don't pay the price personally, it's the residents of Gaza who pay the price."

"Turkey is a very good example of the need for regional and global players," he said regarding the help of world powers to stop the fighting. "I think this forum is one of the examples of Turkey becoming an international player," he added.