TURKEY/ISRAEL: On the day that Amnesty International issued a withering report into what it called Israeli army war crimes in the Palestinian territories, one of Israel's most important regional allies, Turkey, said it might temporarily recall its ambassador from the Jewish state.
On Tuesday, Turkish Prime Minister Mr Tayyip Erdogan had drawn a parallel between terrorism against Israel and some of Israel's military activities, including the demolition of Palestinian homes in Gaza's southern Rafah district during the just completed six-day major Israeli military operation there.
Yesterday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mr Abdullah Gul said his country was anxious "to try and revive" negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
"In order to make a proper assessment, we may recall our ambassador for several days for consultations, after which he will return," Mr Gul said.
Turkey, a uniquely secular Islamic democracy, is a crucial ally of Israel, and the relationship involves close military co-operation and strong trade ties.
The latest Turkish criticisms of Israel appear to reflect the ongoing cooling of ties which began two months ago, when Mr Erdogan branded Israel's killing of the Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin an act of terrorism and despaired of any hope of peacemaking, given that there now was, he said, "nothing left to mediate".
Israel is adamant that its military operations - including the killings of Hamas leaders - are crucial to the protection of its civilian population from relentless suicide-bombing attempts and other attacks.
In its report yesterday, however, the human rights group Amnesty International, citing the killings by the Israeli army of 600 Palestinians, more than 100 of them children, in the course of 2003, charged that Israel had acted unlawfully in most cases, by using "extra-judicial executions and through excessive use of force".
Amnesty defined some Israeli military practices, including the killings, use of "human shields" during military incursions and extensive destruction of property, as constituting war crimes.
There was no immediate Israeli response to the Amnesty report.