Fire rages at sunrise in Khan Yunis following an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip, May 12, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in Jerusalem al-Quds and the besieged Gaza Strip, calling on the international community to give Israel a strong lesson.

During a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Erdogan voiced Turkey’s firm opposition to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Jerusalem al-Quds and the al-Aqsa Mosque as well as its bombardment of Gaza.

The international community needs to give a strong and deterrent lesson to Israel, he said.

Erdogan also stressed that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) must issue a clear and decisive statement pertaining to the current situation in the occupied territories.

He said the idea of sending an international protection force to the region in order to protect Palestinian civilians should also be considered.

For his part, Putin expressed serious concern about the escalation of tensions.

Serious concern was expressed about the continuing clashes and the growing number of people killed and wounded, the Kremlin said in a statement, adding that Putin had urged the parties to de-escalate tensions and peacefully resolve the emerging issues.

Palestinian resistance fighters have launched hundreds of rockets into Israeli-occupied territories in defense of Gaza against the regime’s bombardment of the besieged territory. The rocket barrage is also in retaliation for Israel’s brutal crackdown on worshipers at al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Israeli bombardment, which began on Monday, has left 53 Palestinians dead.

Tensions escalated in Jerusalem al-Quds, the occupied West Bank, and Gaza throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The trigger was an Israeli plan for the forced expulsion of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in al-Quds, where illegal Israeli settlers are looking to further encroachments.