President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the head of Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan are working with Qatar on the release of hostages held by Hamas, as he highlighted the importance of establishing an independent Palestinian state for permanent peace in the region, TurkicWorld report citing Daily Sabah.

Speaking at a joint news conference with his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Erdoğan said Türkiye was striving to make progress in the release of hostages as Israel continues to incessantly bomb civilians in the Gaza Strip.

"Türkiye hopes to achieve positive results on hostage exchange as soon as possible," the president said, adding that Türkiye was in constant communication.

Erdoğan noted that Türkiye's priority is a permanent cease-fire and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza. He rejected Israeli attacks, which he said constituted collective punishment of innocent civilians and amounted to war crimes.

"Attacks on hospitals, places of worship, and facilities in Gaza that should be protected as well as the forced displacement of people amount to inhumanity, barbarity," the president said.

Türkiye unequivocally rejects Israeli attacks in Gaza, which constitute collective punishment, war crimes,

Algerian and Turkish leaders signed several bilateral agreements, including a contract with Sonatrach to supply gas.