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02-01-2026
ISTANBUL: Hundreds of thousands of people joined a New Year’s Day rally for Gaza in Istanbul on Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to violence in the war-torn territory.
Demonstrators gathered in near-freezing temperatures under cloudless blue skies to march to the city’s Galata Bridge for a rally under the slogan: “We won’t remain silent, we won’t forget Palestine.”
More than 400 civil society organizations were present at the rally, one of whose organizers was Bilal Erdogan, the youngest son of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Police sources and Anadolou state news agency claimed some 500,000 people had joined the march, at which there were speeches and a performance by Lebanese-born singer Maher Zain of his song “Free Palestine.”
“We are praying that 2026 will bring goodness for our entire nation and for the oppressed Palestinians,” said the younger Erdogan, who chairs the board of the Ilim Yayma Foundation, an educational charity that was one of the organizers of the march.
Istanbul has been the site of some of the most widely attended protests against Israel since the war in Gaza began after the Hamas terror group’s invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Relations between Israel and Turkey formerly close allies have collapsed, with Ankara severing its trade with Israel, closing its airspace to Israeli official flights (but not commercial ones) and issuing arrest warrants for 37 Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Turkish government, and especially President Erdogan, have been among the most vocal critics of the Jewish state since the war began, with Erdogan repeatedly likening Netanyahu to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, and Israel itself to Nazi Germany.
Despite the often dramatic war of words between the two countries, US President Donald Trump recently called Erdogan “a very good friend” during a joint press event with the visiting Israeli premier, insisting that “we’re not going to have a problem” between Jerusalem and Ankara.
Trump added that Netanyahu “respects” Erdogan and that “he’s done a fantastic job… I’m with him all the way, I’m with Bibi all the way.”
29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP/Alex Brandon)
US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened Hamas with “hell to pay” if it does not disarm within a “very short period,” in remarks delivered alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after their meeting at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Hamas “will be given a very short period of time to disarm,” the US president said during a press conference. “If they don’t disarm, as they agreed to do… then there will be hell to pay for them.”
The warning was part of a series of remarks on key regional issues that Trump made to the press before and after a lunchtime meeting with Netanyahu and his team, including an assertion that the US would back an Israeli attack on Iran if Tehran continued to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. He also made comments praising the leaders of Turkey and Syria, both of which Israel has sparred with in recent months.
Trump said he intends to move to the second phase of his 20-point plan for Gaza “as quickly as we can” but stopped short of offering a firm timeline for the process. The first stage of the ceasefire began in October, but the next phase, which would establish longer-term governing and security frameworks for Gaza, has stalled as both Israel and Hamas have chafed at implementing various portions of the proposal. (Int’l News Desk)
