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

Turkey has become a virulent critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, sparked by the Hamas 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 X that his ministry had asked the interior ministry to issue interpol red notice alerts 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.

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.

About 50 vessels were in the Global Sumud Flotilla that left Turkey in May heading for the besieged Palestinian territory. The activists were detained in the Mediterranean by the Israeli military and then taken to an Israeli prison before being expelled.

Israel’s far right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir caused his own outcry by releasing a video showing himself taunting some of flotilla activists who were on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs.

AFP