Israel said Saturday it was recalling its diplomatic staff from Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a fierce attack on its military operation against Hamas militants in Gaza.

The decision delivered a body blow to the sides’ nascent efforts to restore political and economic relations after a decade of all but frozen ties.

Israel and Turkey — an overwhelmingly Muslim nation that forms the bulwark of NATO defences on the edge of the Middle East — had only just agreed to reappoint ambassadors last year.

They were also restarting discussions on a US-backed natural gas pipeline project that could have formed the basis for much closer and more lasting cooperation in the coming years.

But their relations have unravelled as Erdogan picks up the pace and venom of his attacks on Israel’s retaliatory military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on October 7 during which they killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seized more than 220 hostages.

The Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza has said Israeli strikes have  killed 7,703 people — mainly civilians — with more than 3,500 of them children.

Erodgan’s Islamic-rooted party staged a massive rally in Istanbul on Saturday that the president said drew an estimated a crowd of 1.5 million people.

“Israel, you are an occupier,” he told the Turkish and Palestinian-flag waving sea of supporters.

He accused the Israel government of behaving like a “war criminal” and trying to “eradicate” Palestinians.

“Of course, every country has the right to defend itself. But where is the justice in this case? There is no justice — just a vicious massacre happening in Gaza.”

Israeli ordered the return of all diplomatic staff from Turkey moments after Erdogan finished his remarks.

“Given the grave statements coming from Turkey, I have ordered the return of diplomatic representatives there in order to conduct a reevaluation of the relations between Israel and Turkey,” Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said in a statement.

‘Crusade’

Erdogan has been a leading international supporter of Palestinian rights during his two-decade rule.

He took a more cautious line in the first days after the October 7 attack by Hamas, but has become much more vocal as the reported death toll from Israel’s military response has grown.

Erdogan told Saturday’s rally that Israel was “a pawn in the region” that was being used by Western powers to stamp their authority on the Middle East.

“The main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West,” Erdogan declared.

“If we leave aside some conscientious voices… the massacre in Gaza is entirely the work of the West.”

And he accused Israel’s allies of creating a “crusade war atmosphere” pitting Christians against Muslims.

“Listen to our call for dialogue,” Erdogan said. “No one loses from a just peace.”

Erdogan’s address came in response to days of pro-Palestinian protests in Istanbul and other major cities organised by Turkey’s more right-wing and Islamic conservative groups.

But one poll released this week showed the majority of respondents preferring to see Turkey remain either neutral or try to play a mediating role in the war.

The Metropoll survey showed 11.3 percent of the respondents saying they “back Hamas”.

But 34.5 percent said Turkey should stay “neutral” and 26.4 percent said it should mediate.

Just 3.0 percent said they “support Israel”.

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has received a fresh death email threatening to shoot him if he does not pay Rs 200 crore, the police said on Saturday.

The police said that this time the person who sent the email raised his demand from Rs 20 crore to Rs 200 crore due to no response to his previous email.

“Another email came from the same account which read: ‘U have not responded to our email now the amount is 200 crore otherwise the death warrant is signed’,” the police said.

On Friday, Mukesh Ambani received an email threatening to shoot him if he doesn’t pay Rs 20 crore.

According to the Mumbai police, the threat mail said: “If you don’t give us 20 crore rupees, we will kill you, we have the best shooters in India.”

Based on a complaint by Mukesh Ambani’s security in-charge, the Gamdevi Police in south Mumbai registered a case against an unknown person under Sections 387 and 506 (2) of the Indian Penal Code.

Further investigation is underway.

Police in Maine said Saturday that the man who gunned down 18 people at a bar and a bowling alley and later committed suicide, suffered serious mental health issues, but was able to buy weapons legally because he had never been forcibly committed to treatment.

The body of Robert Card, a 40-year-old army reservist, was discovered Friday night inside a tractor trailer near a recycling center where he used to work, said Maine public safety commissioner Mike Sauschuck. Card had shot himself.

Investigators are still struggling to determine Card’s motive for carrying out Wednesday’s massacre in the town of Lewiston.

However, Mike Sauschuck said that Card had reportedly been hearing voices and suffering from paranoia.

“Clearly there’s a mental health component to this,” Mr Sauschuck told reporters.

Investigators found a “paper-style” note that Card had left to a loved one which contained a password to his phone and bank account information, Mr Sauschuck said, adding that the note had the tone of a suicide letter.

Card was found in possession of three weapons, one of them a long gun, all purchased legally because he had never been forcibly committed to a mental institution.

Despite the apparently clear mental health issues and a reportedly recent psychiatric evaluation undergone by Card, “a background check is not going to ping that this individual was prohibited,” Mr Sauschuck added.

A ‘coward’s way out’

The discovery of Card’s body ended a massive two-day manhunt, which had this quiet city of 38,000 people on lockdown with businesses and schools closed and residents terrified.

Sauschuck acknowledged the help Card’s family provided to the investigation, saying among the first people to call the police and identify the suspect were his family members. “This family has been incredibly cooperative with us,” he said.

Lewiston finally breathed a sigh of relief with businesses beginning to open and people appearing on the streets Saturday.

Guadalupe Hursch, 49, a stay-at-home mother said she was happy that the ordeal was over. “Relieved. Relieved,” Hursch told AFP, adding that she also felt sorry for Card’s parents.

A local resident by the name of Danica who was buying coffee at a drive-in said she was “very afraid” in the aftermath of the shooting and was now happy Card was dead, but at the same time wished he had first been brought to justice.

“I think he took the coward’s way out of doing it by suicide,” Danica, who declined to give her last name, told AFP. “I think he should be held accountable for his crimes.”

She added: “It’s a very terrible thing and it’s going to take a long time to get back up to be where we were before.”

In a statement issued shortly after Card’s body was discovered Friday night, President Joe Biden vowed to renew efforts to curb gun violence in the United States.

“Americans should not have to live like this,” Joe Biden said. “I will continue to do everything in my power to end this gun violence epidemic.”

President Biden said the shooting brought “a tragic two days — not just for Lewiston, Maine, but for our entire country.”

Authorities on Friday identified the victims, ranging from a husband and wife in their 70s, to a 14-year-old boy killed alongside his father.

This latest shooting is one of the deadliest in the United States since 2017, when a gunman opened fire on a crowded music festival in Las Vegas, killing 60 people

Mass shootings are alarmingly common in the United States, a country where there are more guns than people and where attempts to clamp down on their spread are always met with stiff resistance.

The United States has recorded over 500 mass shootings this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a non-governmental organization that defines a mass shooting as four or more people wounded or killed.

Efforts to tighten gun controls have for years run up against opposition from Republicans, staunch defenders of the constitutional right to bear arms.

The political paralysis endures despite widespread outrage over recurring shootings.