Turkey issues ‘genocide’ warrant for Israel’s Netanyahu over Gaza flotilla

Turkey has sought an international arrest warrant for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of “genocide” linked to Israel’s interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, the justice minister announced Friday.

Turkey has become a virulent critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has frequently accused Netanyahu of “genocide”.

Israel’s interception of the flotilla carrying some 430 activists in May sparked an international outcry. France, Italy and Australia have also launched judicial proceedings.

Turkey’s Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said on social media that his ministry had asked the interior ministry to issue an Interpol red notice for Netanyahu and another Israeli, named as Afek Moskovitch.

“As part of the judicial proceedings concerning the attack in international waters on the Flotilla activists and in accordance with the arrest warrants issued on July 14, 2026, against Benjamin Netanyahu and Afek Moskovitch for ‘genocide’, the Ministry of Justice has requested that the Ministry of the Interior issue red notices for their international arrest,” the minister stated.

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Netanyahu and Moskovitch are being prosecuted for “crimes against humanity, genocide, aggravated deprivation of liberty, ‘intentional assault and battery’, torture, destruction of property, aggravated looting, and hijacking of transport vehicles,” the ministry said.