Erdogan Calls Gaza Damage Ecocide at COP31

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used his address at the COP31 climate summit in Antalya on Wednesday to describe the environmental damage in Gaza as “ecocide” as well as genocide and to call for increased humanitarian aid access. Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected his characterization and said Hamas must disarm before reconstruction can begin.

Erdogan said olive trees had been cut down, soil and water polluted, and cities reduced to rubble. He also said heavy rainfall and flooding had submerged tens of thousands of tents and shelters used by displaced Palestinians. He urged Israel to allow more aid into Gaza and called for an end to what he described as a policy of isolation.

The Foreign Ministry, in a response posted on X, accused Erdogan of using an international forum to spread anti-Israel lies and said Hamas was responsible for the devastation. It said those concerned about Gaza should demand that Hamas disarm so reconstruction can start. Hamas’s role and responsibility for the environmental damage were not independently established in the statements presented at the summit.

A 2025 assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme found that by May 2025, more than...