Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday used the United Nations climate summit in Antalya to accuse Israel of widespread environmental destruction in the Gaza Strip, drawing a sharp response from Israel's Foreign Ministry.
Addressing world leaders and climate representatives attending COP31, Erdogan claimed that Israel's military operations had caused extensive damage to Gaza's environment and infrastructure.
“What has taken place in Gaza is not only a genocide, but it is also an ecocide," Erdogan declared, receiving applause from participants, as quoted by The Associated Press.
“Centuries old olive trees have been cut down. The soil and water have been polluted in Gaza, and cities in Gaza have been turned into enormous piles of rubble," he charged. “With Gaza’s destroyed infrastructure, compounded by torrential rain and by flooding, tens of thousands of tents and shelters have been inundated."
Israel, which was not invited to participate in the summit, rejected the accusations and criticized the Turkish President for using an international environmental conference to attack the Jewish state.
In a statement published on social media, the Foreign Ministry accused Erdogan of “using an international forum to push his anti-Israel campaign of lies" and criticized his support for Hamas.
“Those who truly care about Gaza should demand that Hamas disarm so reconstruction can begin," the ministry stated.
Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following the Hamas-led terrorist massacre on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were murdered and 251 were taken hostage.
Erdogan's latest remarks came after days of heavy rainfall and flooding in Gaza that damaged or destroyed numerous tents and temporary shelters housing residents of the territory.
Earlier this week, the IDF and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced that more than 91,000 tents and over 8,200 trucks carrying winter supplies had entered Gaza as part of preparations for the colder months.
The announcement came amid continued international criticism of Israel's humanitarian assistance efforts.
Relations between Israel and Turkey have deteriorated considerably since the October 7 massacre, reversing diplomatic progress that had been underway between Ankara and Jerusalem before the attack.
Erdogan has repeatedly condemned Israel's military operations, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the Turkish leader of antisemitism and described him as a “tyrant."
In March 2025, Erdogan called Israel a "terror state" following Israeli preemptive strikes against terrorist infrastructure in Gaza. He subsequently accused Netanyahu's government of posing the greatest threat to regional stability.
The diplomatic confrontation intensified in August when Turkey requested that Interpol issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials.
The request was connected to criminal proceedings being conducted in absentia by Istanbul's 11th High Criminal Court.
According to reports, the case concerned Israel's interception of the "Global Sumud" flotilla, whose participants attempted to breach the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza before being stopped by Israeli forces in international waters.
Netanyahu's office responded with a strongly worded statement condemning Erdogan and rejecting the Turkish initiative.
“Erdogan is an antisemitic dictator who has massacred Kurds, harbors Hamas terrorists, occupies half of Cyprus, and jails record numbers of journalists and politicians who oppose him. He now seeks to extend his aggression against Israel into Syria. Israel will not tolerate it."
“Erdogan’s pathetic attempt to intimidate the leaders and soldiers of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, will go nowhere," the statement stressed.
Turkey subsequently accused Netanyahu of engaging in "cheap politics".