Istanbul:

As the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 34,000, Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, arrived in Istanbul on Friday evening to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ) hold talks.

Hamas said in a statement on Friday that Erdogan and Haniyeh would discuss the conflict in Gaza, adding that the head of the group’s politburo was accompanied by a delegation.

According to reports, Israel launched attacks on Iran and Gaza, tensions in the Middle East have increased, and Israel is preparing to launch a new offensive.

Erdogan insisted on Wednesday that he would continue to “defend the Palestinian struggle and be the voice of the oppressed Palestinian people.”

But in an interview with reporters on Friday, he declined to disclose details of the meeting.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was in Qatar on Wednesday and said he spent three hours with Haniyeh and his aides “for an extensive exchange of views, especially on ceasefire negotiations.”

Qatar, the mediator between Israel and Hamas, admitted on Wednesday that talks to end hostilities in Gaza and release hostages were “at an impasse”.

Fidan said he spoke with Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, about how Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, “must make its expectations clear, especially for a two-state solution.”

Erdogan’s last meeting with Haniyeh was in July 2023, when Erdogan hosted him and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the presidential palace in Ankara. Haniya last saw Fidan on January 2 in Türkiye.

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,170 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

The militants also took about 250 hostages. Israel says some 129 people are believed to be detained in Gaza, 34 of whom are presumed dead.

Israel’s retaliatory military operations have killed at least 34,012 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)