Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for the world to recognise the environmental impacts of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and asked the Israeli Government to grant more aid access to the Palestinian territory.
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world → call → territory
Mr. Erdogan was speaking on Wednesday (November 11, 2026) at the UN climate summit, known as COP31, in Antalya, Turkiye.
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Erdogan → speak → Antalya
“What has taken place in Gaza is not only a genocide, but it is also an ecocide,” Mr. Erdogan said to applause by world leaders and other climate envoys.
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Erdogan → take → leaders
A UN-backed panel of independent experts concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.
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Israel → back → Gaza
Israel vehemently denies the allegations and has accused the panel of antisemitism.
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Israel → deny → antisemitism
“Centuries old olive trees have been cut down.
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trees → cut → ?
The soil and water have been polluted in Gaza, and cities in Gaza have been turned into enormous piles of rubble,” Mr. Erdogan said.
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Erdogan → pollute → rubble
Israel's Foreign Ministry responded in a post on X, accusing Erdogan of “using an international forum to push his anti-Israel campaign of lies” and of supporting Hamas.
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Ministry → respond → Hamas
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza following attacks by Hamas-led militants in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
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Israel → launch → October
Militants killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
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Militants → kill → hostages
“Those who truly care about Gaza should demand that Hamas disarm so reconstruction can begin,” the statement read.
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statement → care → Gaza
Israel wasn't invited to COP31.
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Israel → invite → COP31
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 74,000 people, according to local health authorities, and destroyed much of Gaza.
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offensive → kill → Gaza
The Health Ministry, part of Gaza's Hamas-run Government, doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants, but says women and children make up nearly half of the dead.
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women → run → dead
Mr. Erdogan has been an outspoken critic of Israel, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called Mr. Erdogan an antisemitic “tyrant.”
“The latest country to become a superspreader of antisemitic lies is Turkiye," Netanyahu said in September while speaking at the UN General Assembly.
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Netanyahu → call → Assembly
In recent days, heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding destroyed many of the tents and makeshift shelters that Palestinian residents now live in.
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residents → destroy → that
At least four people were killed earlier this week when a sand embankment collapsed on their shelter.
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embankment → kill → shelter
The rain also left many displaced people without food, drinking water or a dry place to sleep.
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rain → leave → food
Humanitarian aid enters the territory, but imports remain far below levels before the start of the Israel-Hamas war, and many items remain blocked by Israel.
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items → enter → Israel
A 2025 report by the UN Environment Program also outlined the devastating reality of Gaza's environment since the war began.
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war → outline → environment
Remote sensing assessments showed that by May 2025, more than 97% of the tree crops, 82% of annual crops, 95% of shrubland and 89% of grass and fallow land had been damaged, according to the UNEP report.
“As of now, our families only have 3% of cropland to use, and that is assuming it's distributed across 2 million Palestinians" in the Gaza Strip, said Mohammed Usrof, co-founder and executive director of the Palestinian Institute for Climate Strategy.
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Usrof → show → Strategy
“Not talking about these losses undermines Palestinians' food supply, livelihoods and ability to remain on their land,” Mr. Usrof said.
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Usrof → talk → land
The territory's ability to dispose of garbage, treat sewage and deliver clean water has been virtually decimated by three years of war.
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ability → dispose → war
This has made grim living conditions worse and raised health risks for hundreds of thousands of people deprived of adequate shelter, food and medicine, aid groups say.
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groups → make → shelter
The conflict has “all but eliminated” Gazan fishing livelihoods, the report said, highlighting how marine ecosystems have been contaminated with munitions, sewage and solid waste.
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ecosystems → eliminate → munitions
“For people in Gaza, this translates into severely limited access to safe drinking water, greater exposure to waterborne diseases and toxic substances, deepening food insecurity and the loss of livelihoods dependent on agriculture and fishing,” Ghiwa Nakat, executive director at Greenpeace MENA, told The Associated Press.
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Nakat → translate → Press
Mr. Nakat also warned that Gaza's environment could take years to recover.
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environment → warn → years
“The environmental damage will not end when the war ends,” he said.
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he → end → ?
“Contaminated soil and groundwater, destroyed ecosystems and the collapse of essential environmental infrastructure could undermine public health, food security and livelihoods for generations, threatening communities' resilience and their ability to recover.”
World leaders began formal talks at COP31 this week, seeking agreement on concrete steps to curb global warming after a year of deadly floods, heat waves and other climate-related disasters.
More than 70 world leaders and senior Government officials are speaking at the summit, though some key leaders are absent, including heads of state from the United States, China and India.
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leaders → contaminate → States
The Aporia
