Gaza: Turkey issues arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Israeli officials
SKAiF NewsNG SNN
Turkey has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials for “crimes against humanity” and “genocide” in Gaza.
The warrants announced on Friday affect 37 people, including Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and military chief Eyal Zamir, among others.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office also charged the officials for the Israeli military’s interception of the flotilla carrying aid to Gaza in October.
Hundreds of passengers in dozens of boats, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg—were detained as they tried to break Israel’s 18-year blockade of Gaza.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has dismissed the warrants, describing the action as a public show by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The minister declared that the judiciary in Turkey has “long since become a tool for silencing political rivals and detaining journalists, judges, and mayors.”
“Israel firmly rejects, with contempt, the latest PR stunt by the tyrant Erdogan,” he wrote on X. Sa’ar also accused the prosecutor’s office of persecuting the Mayor of Istanbul “for daring to run against Erdogan.”
Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has been jailed since March pending trial on corruption allegations, and was sentenced to prison in July for insulting the prosecutor. His supporters say the ordeal is politically motivated.
Turkey’s warrants came almost one year after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In April, Erdogan slammed Israel for trying to chase Gazans from “the land where they were born,” vowing that Turkey would not stop fighting for the recognition of Palestine as an independent state.
Gaza: Turkey issues arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Israeli officials
