Turkey on Monday hosts a string of top diplomats from the Islamic world to bring their influence to bear on the future of Gaza, as fears grow for the increasingly fragile truce.
The October 10 ceasefire in the two-year-long Israel-Hamas war, brokered by US president Donald Trump, has been sorely tested by continued Israeli strikes and claims of Palestinian attacks on Israeli soldiers.
In a bid to drive forward reconstruction efforts, Turkey鈥檚 foreign minister Hakan Fidan invited his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia to Istanbul for talks to start around 2:00pm (1100 GMT).
All of them were called to a meeting with Trump in late September on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, just days before he unveiled his plan to end the fighting in Gaza.
Turkish foreign ministry sources say Ankara will press them to support plans for Palestinians to take control of the coastal territory鈥檚 security and governance.
At the weekend, Fidan welcomed a Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya, the Palestinian Islamist movement鈥檚 lead negotiator.
鈥榃e must end the massacre in Gaza. A ceasefire in itself is not enough,鈥� Fidan said, stressing that 鈥楪aza should be governed by the Palestinians.鈥�
Earlier on Monday, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Hamas appeared committed to the truce, pointing the finger of blame at Israel.
鈥業t seems Hamas is quite determined to adhere to the agreement while Israel鈥檚 record is very poor,鈥� he told an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation gathering in Istanbul, saying Muslim states should play 鈥榓 leading role鈥� in Gaza鈥檚 recovery.
鈥榃e believe the reconstruction plan prepared by the Arab League and the OIC should be implemented聽immediately,鈥� he said of the plan unveiled in March.
Turkey has been instrumental in backing Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza.
Fidan is expected to repeat calls for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, where aid agencies have complained their convoys still do not have enough access to alleviate the famine conditions in parts of the territory.
Israel has long viewed Turkey鈥檚 diplomatic overtures with suspicion over Ankara鈥檚 close ties with Hamas and has expressed its firm opposition to Turkey having any role in the international peacekeeping force being put together to oversee the ceasefire.
Under Trump鈥檚 plan, that stabilisation mission is meant to take over in the wake of the Israeli army鈥檚 withdrawal from the Palestinian territory.
A Turkish disaster relief team, sent to help efforts to recover the many bodies buried under Gaza鈥檚 rubble 鈥� including those of Israeli hostages seized by Hamas鈥攈as likewise been stuck at the border because of the Israeli government鈥檚 refusal to let them in, according to Ankara.
Meanwhile, Israel returned the bodies of 45 Palestinians to Gaza on Monday, bringing the total number handed over under the ceasefire deal to 270, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.
Under a ceasefire deal brokered by Trump, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned.
Following forensic identification, Israel confirmed Monday that remains handed over by Hamas the day before belonged to three hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war.
The remains were those of American-Israeli Captain Omer Neutra, 21 years old at the time of his abduction, Corporal Oz Daniel, 19, and Colonel Assaf Hamami, 40, the highest-ranking officer killed by Hamas.
Hamas鈥檚 armed wing said it had found the remains earlier on Sunday 鈥榓long the route of one of the tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip鈥�.
Hamas had been holding 48 hostages in Gaza when the truce came into effect on October 10, including 20 who were alive.
Since the start of the truce, Hamas has released the 20 surviving hostages and begun handing over the remains of 28 deceased captives.
Of the latter, it has so far returned 20 鈥� including 18 Israelis, one Thai national and one Nepali.
Israel has accused Hamas of dragging its feet in returning the bodies, while the Palestinian group says the process is slow because many remains are buried beneath Gaza鈥檚 rubble.
It has repeatedly called on mediators and the Red Cross to provide it with the necessary equipment and personnel to recover the bodies.
