ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian leader Vladimir Putin discussed in a phone call tensions in Gaza and Jerusalem, Turkey’s presidency said on Wednesday, as Ankara seeks international action against Israel.

Erdoğan told Putin the international community needed to teach a deterrent lesson to Israel, adding that Ankara was working to mobilise this reaction, according to a statement released by Beştepe.

He urged the UN Security Council to get involved in the issue and give a determined and clear message to Israel to halt its attacks on Palestinians before the crisis grows further.

The Turkish president welcomed the Russian Foreign Ministry‘s statement on UN parameters and a two-state solution in Palestine, and said it constitutes an important message to show that Ankara and Moscow share the same stance regarding the developments in Jerusalem.

Erdoğan said he believed Turkey and Russia will display close cooperation in those topics in the UN.

Russia‘s Putin, for his part, congratulated the Turkish nation on the Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday following the holy month of Ramadan.

Erdoğan also called for work to be done on sending international peacekeepers to the region to help safeguard Palestinians, a proposal Turkey has made since 2018.

During the talk, the leader also discussed the shipment of the Sputnik V vaccine to Turkey.

At least 43 Palestinians have been killed and 296 others injured in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip amid tension across the Palestinian territories after Israeli police stormed the flashpoint al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied East Jerusalem and assaulted worshippers.

Five Israelis have also been killed and 45 others injured in Palestinian rocket fire.

Tensions have been running high since last week after an Israeli court ordered the evictions of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.