Turkiye announced on Friday it has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and senior officials for committing genocide in Gaza.
The Istanbul prosecutor’s office said that a total of 37 suspects, including Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, were named in the list and arrest warrants issued. However, it did not provide a full list.
Turkiye has accused the officials of “genocide and crimes against humanity” that Israel has “perpetrated systematically” in Gaza.
Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, said Israel “firmly rejects, with contempt” the charges, calling them “the latest PR stunt by the tyrant (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan”.
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On the social media platform X, Saar said that “in Erdogan’s Turkiye, the judiciary has long since become a tool for silencing political rivals and detaining journalists, judges and mayors”.
Meanwhile, Israel’s former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman wrote on X that the arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials “clearly explain why Turkiye should not be present in the Gaza Strip – directly or indirectly”.
Turkiye has been a strong vocal critic of the war in Gaza, and joined South Africa in filing a case against Israel, accusing it of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
It wants to participate in the international stabilisation force that brings stability to post-war Gaza, but Israeli leaders have repeatedly opposed it since they view Turkiye as being too close to Hamas.
Meanwhile, Islamist militant group, Hamas, has welcomed Turkiye’s announcement against Netanyahu, saying it is a “commendable measure (confirming) the sincere positions of the Turkish people and their leaders, who are committed to the values of justice, humanity and fraternity that bind them to our oppressed Palestinian people”.
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