Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Western countries of responsibility for the genocidal massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip, stressing that Ankara is making preparations to declare Israel a war criminal before the world.

He said in a speech before a massive demonstration in support of Gaza in Istanbul, that those who were shedding crocodile tears over Ukraine are now silent about what is happening in Gaza.

Erdogan added, "We are not only condemning the massacre in Gaza here, but we are also defending our independence and our future."

The Turkish President stressed that Israel does not care about the killing of civilians in Gaza, and they say frankly and clearly, “We know killing well,” but they will pay a heavy price for that.

He stressed that Israel is an occupying state and what it is doing is not in self-defense, but rather a clear and despicable massacre aimed at eliminating the population of Gaza en masse through starvation and thirst and destroying their health services.

Erdogan reiterated that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is not a terrorist organization.

He added, "Israel was disturbed by my statement that Hamas is not a terrorist movement, and I felt very insulted by this. I am speaking clearly because Turkey does not owe you anything, unlike Western countries."

It is noteworthy that the occupation forces are launching a violent bombardment on the Gaza Strip and yesterday began expanding ground operations, following the Palestinian resistance’s launch of Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” on the seventh of this month in response to the ongoing Israeli violations in Jerusalem and the West Bank.