Turkiye points genocide arrest warrant in opposition to Netanyahu

Turkiye introduced on Friday (November 8, 2025) that it had issued arrest warrants for genocide in opposition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior officers in his authorities over the warfare in Gaza.

The announcement was met with a agency rebuttal from Israel. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated Israel “firmly rejects, with contempt” the fees, calling them “the most recent PR stunt by the tyrant (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan”.

The Istanbul prosecutor’s workplace stated in a press release {that a} whole of 37 suspects have been focused by the arrest warrants, with out offering a full checklist.

They embrace Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir.

Turkiye has accused the officers of “genocide and crimes in opposition to humanity” that Israel has “perpetrated systematically” in Gaza.

The assertion additionally refers back to the “Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital”, constructed by Turkiye within the Gaza Strip and bombed by Israel in March.

Turkiye, which has been probably the most vocal critics of the warfare in Gaza, final 12 months joined South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide on the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

A fragile ceasefire has been in power within the devastated Palestinian territory since October 10 as a part of US President Donald Trump’s regional peace plan.

The Islamist militant group Hamas welcomed Turkiye’s announcement, calling it a “commendable measure (confirming) the honest positions of the Turkish individuals and their leaders, who’re dedicated to the values of justice, humanity and fraternity that bind them to our oppressed Palestinian individuals”.

Stabilisation power

Saar stated in his submit in English on the social media platform X that “in Erdogan’s Turkiye, the judiciary has lengthy since change into a device for silencing political rivals and detaining journalists, judges and mayors”.

He added that the Istanbul prosecutor’s workplace “just lately orchestrated the arrest of the Mayor of Istanbul merely for daring to run in opposition to Erdogan”, referring to Ekrem Imamoglu, who was detained in March.

Israel’s former international minister Avigdor Lieberman wrote on X that the arrest warrants for senior Israeli officers “clearly clarify why Turkiye shouldn’t be current within the Gaza Strip — instantly or not directly”.

Turkiye desires to participate within the worldwide stabilisation power supposed to play a job in post-war Gaza, in accordance with Trump’s plan.

But Ankara’s efforts, which embrace rising diplomatic contacts within the area and looking for to affect the pro-Israel stance of the United States, are considered unfavourably in Israel, which considers Turkiye too near Hamas.

Israeli leaders have repeatedly expressed their opposition to any Turkish participation within the worldwide stabilisation power in Gaza.

Israel has rejected as “false” and “antisemitic” accusations of genocide from a UN-mandated fee, a number of NGOs and a few nations.