ISRAELI President Shimon Peres has apparently apologised to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the latter stormed out of a Davos debate on Gaza.

Mr Peres spoke to Mr Erdogan for five minutes and apologised, Turkey's Anatolia news agency reported, citing a source close to the Turkish Prime Minister.

Mr Erdogan defended himself after walking out of the debate, saying he objected to the way Israel's President had addressed him and the lack of time he had been given to speak.

“I do not think I will be coming back to Davos after this because you do not let me speak,” the Islamist-rooted Prime Minister shouted before marching off the stage in front of Mr Peres, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and an elite audience of ministers and international officials at the World Economic Forum.

Mr Erdogan criticised the audience for applauding Mr Peres' emotional defence of Israel's war in Gaza, before the moderator, Washington Post journalist David Ignatius, insisted that the debate had gone over time.

He said Israel had carried out “barbarian” actions in Gaza.

Mr Peres had told the audience that Israel had been forced into the offensive against Hamas by thousands of rockets and mortars fired into Israel.

“The tragedy of Gaza is not Israel, it is Hamas,” said Mr Peres. “They created a dictatorship. A very dangerous one.”
Mr Ban, Mr Erdogan, Mr Peres and Arab League secretary general Amr Mussa all gave long impassioned statements on the conflict which left more than 1300 Palestinians dead and widespread destruction in Gaza.

The UN secretary-general had called on Israel to end its blockade of Gaza, again condemned the Israeli bombing of a UN base in the territory, and called for Hamas to end its violence for renewed Arab efforts to bring together divided Palestinian groups.