ISTANBUL

The international community has a primary responsibility to send a clear message to Israel and put an end to the ongoing "massacre" in Gaza, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Hungary's capital Budapest, Erdogan said that since the beginning, Türkiye has been exerting intensive diplomatic efforts for an urgent cease-fire in Gaza and to prevent the spread of conflict.

Türkiye is working for the immediate cessation of "Israeli brutality" in Gaza, he added.

Israel's air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas have killed at least 19,453 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The war has left Gaza in ruins with half of the coastal territory's housing stock damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stands at 1,200, while more than 130 hostages are still being held by the Palestinian group in Gaza, according to official figures.