Turkey to step up diplomatic push to reinstate Gaza ceasefire, Erdogan says

Turkey will ramp up diplomatic efforts to reinstate a ceasefire in Gaza and halt the killing of innocent people there, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.

"Turkey stands by the people of Gaza and our Palestinian brothers... We will continue to increase our diplomatic efforts to stop the massacres and to restore peace and a ceasefire," Erdogan said in comments made at a fast-breaking meal with students of the National Defence University.

Earlier on Tuesday Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza and killed more than 400 people, Palestinian health authorities said, in an onslaught that ended weeks of relative calm after talks to secure a permanent ceasefire stalled.