Turkey issues 'genocide' arrest warrants against PM Netanyahu & other top Israeli officials over Gaza crisis

Amid the brewing tensions in West Asia, Turkey issued an arrest warrant against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him and other senior Israeli officials of committing genocide in Gaza. On Friday, the Turkish authorities listed 37 suspects against whom the warrants were issued.

The list included Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and the army chief, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, Istanbul prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The Turkish authorities accused the Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, of “genocide and crimes against humanity”, which Israel has “perpetrated systematically” in Gaza.

The statement from the prosecutor’s office also refers to the “Turkish-Palestinian friendship hospital”, built by Turkey in the Gaza Strip, which was bombed by Israel in March. Israel soon responded to the arrest warrants, calling them “PR Stunt”.

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Gideon Saar, the foreign minister, said on X: “Israel firmly rejects, with contempt, the latest PR stunt by the tyrant [president Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan.” “In Erdoğan’s Turkey, the judiciary has long since become a tool for silencing political rivals and detaining journalists, judges, and mayors,” Sa’ar said in a social media post, referring to the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu earlier this year.

It is pertinent to note that last year, Turkey joined South Africa in the case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice. The arrest warrants are coming at a time when a fragile ceasefire has been in place in the devastated Palestinian territory since 10 October as part of Donald Trump’s regional peace plan.

Meanwhile, Hamas has welcomed Ankara’s move, insisting that the warrants “confirm the noble positions of the Turkish people and their leadership.” What is interesting is the fact that the Turkish warrants raised questions over what role Turkey will play in a multinational security force for Gaza, which will be formed to uphold the US-brokered ceasefire deal.

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Earlier this week, several Muslim-majority nations gathered in Istanbul to discuss the international stabilisation force (ISF) for Gaza, which is expected to play a key role in the 20-point Gaza peace plan introduced by Trump earlier this year. However, US Vice President JD Vance has maintained that Israel will ultimately have to consent to any foreign troops stationed in Gaza.