Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in agreement with “a murderer like” Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu amounts to “a major threat to world peace”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on February 13 during a visit to Indonesia.

Speaking on Indonesian television broadcaster Narasi, Erdogan addressed the US president’s proposal to remove the more than two million Palestinians living in Gaza, claim US control over the territory and turn it into the "Riviera of the Middle East".

Later in the day, after arriving in Pakistan on the third leg of a three-country tour that also took in Malaysia, Erdogan again addressed the Gaza crisis, saying: “Gaza belongs to our Gazan brothers and sisters and will remain so for ever.”

At a televised speech at a business forum in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, he added: “The homeland for which the Palestinians have sacrificed tens of thousands of their children is not up for bargaining.”

Earlier in Indonesia, Erdogan attempted to coax Trump away from his Gaza plan, saying: "My hope is that such mistakes are reversed as soon as possible, and for a global giant like the United States to rapidly turn back from these errors so that global peace can find a way to come out."

The Arab world has voiced fury, and European powers deep concern, over Trump's proposal.

At the business forum, Erdogan accused Israel of not keeping to the Gaza ceasefire deal. He warned that the region was being dragged “toward blood and tears again.”

Erdogan held talks on Gaza and Turkey-Pakistani trade and cooperation with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The two leaders attended the signing of 24 agreements and a memorandum of understanding on strengthening bilateral economic and defence ties.

Sharif said the two countries would attempt to up their annual bilateral trade volume to $5bn from the present $1.4bn.

It is in the area of trade that Erdogan has faced heavy criticism throughout the duration of the Gaza conflict, with multiple reports presenting evidence that Turkey has continued to trade with Israel, often through indirect channels, despite Ankara announcing a trade embargo against the Israelis. One aspect of that trade is shipments of Azerbaijani oil that are piped to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. From there, investigative journalists and campaign groups have shown, the oil is transshipped to Israel.

Erdogan, who had relatively poor relations with previous US president Joe Biden, who openly described the Turkish leader as an “autocrat” as part of his successful campaign for the White House, wants to secure improved Turkey-US relations under the second Trump presidency, but his regular clashes with Netanyahu, a close ally of Trump, risk undermining that ambition.