Türkiye issues arrest warrants against Butcher of Gaza Netanyahu I
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Dr. Syed Mehboob
Senior Research Editor, The News Lark
Political and economic analyst
What happened in Gaza is unprecedented, and there is no other example of inhumanity, barbarism, slaughter, and genocide in modern history which committed by Israel, its forces, and its Prime Minister, Netanyahu. Netanyahu is named as Dracula, the butcher of Gaza, a wolf, tyrant, and inhumane.
Türkiye has issued an international arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu as part of an investigation into Israel’s interception of an aid flotilla for Gaza. This was announced by Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek. Gurlek said that Türkiye has rejected the notion that Netanyahu and his administration, which is implementing a genocide policy in Gaza, is untouchable. He further said that Türkiye would not allow the crime committed in Gaza to be covered up or the perpetrators to be shielded by impunity and would resolve to utilize all possibilities of national and international law. Gurlek said Türkiye will continue to stand firmly by the side of the Palestinian people, the oppressed, and the conscience of humanity, and would take all necessary steps with determination to ensure that those who commit crimes against humanity are held accountable before the law. Türkiye has sought an international arrest warrant for Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu
Türkiye has sought an international arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of “genocide” linked to Israel’s interception of an aid flotilla for Gaza. Türkiye 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 a 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 that his ministry had asked the interior ministry to issue Interpol red notices for Netanyahu and another Israeli, 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. Later, Netanyahu branded Erdogan an “antisemitic dictator” in a statement from his office, and vowed that Israel would “continue to act forcefully against Türkiye’s attempts to destabilize the region”.
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 the flotilla activists who were on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs.
Istanbul’s 11th High Criminal Court is handling the case, and the indictment names 35 people, including Netanyahu. The court approved the arrest warrants back on July 14, 2026, but they were only made public now. The charges cover an armed assault on civilians who were carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza through international waters, and the detention of activists.
The case goes back three months. Israel’s navy intercepted a flotilla of 57 ships that had set out from Turkey toward Gaza in May 2026. About 430 activists were detained in the operation, roughly 100 of them Turkish nationals. A similar scenario has ended badly before: the 2010 flotilla interception killed ten Turkish activists, an incident that strained relations between Ankara and Jerusalem for years afterward.
This is not the first warrant Turkey has issued against the Israeli prime minister. Ankara had previously sought the arrest of Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials over allegations of genocide in the Gaza Strip. Erdogan followed those earlier accusations by suspending trade with Israel and halting direct flights between the two countries.
An Interpol red notice is not an arrest warrant in the legal sense. It is a request to every member country to detain a person, where possible, pending a decision on extradition. For a sitting head of government of another state, this rarely leads to an actual arrest, but the diplomatic pressure and the symbolism remain, especially when the request comes from a NATO member against a government that is itself Israel’s. Netanyahu’s office responded with a statement calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan an antisemitic dictator. The statement, carried by the Times of Israel, delivered a direct message to Ankara.
The relationship between Turkey and Israel, once regional allies, is deepening now on two tracks at once: a legal one, through the Istanbul court and Interpol, and a military one, in Syria, where both sides are building up a presence after the collapse of Assad’s rule. Neither side has announced its next move, and no date has been set for when Interpol is expected to rule on the red notice request.
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.
About the crimes, the ICC Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu, born on 21 October 1949, Prime Minister of Israel at the time of the relevant conduct, and Mr Gallant, born on 8 November 1958, Minister of Defence of Israel at the time of the alleged conduct, each bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.
The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that during the relevant time, international humanitarian law related to international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine applied. This is because they are two High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and because Israel occupies at least parts of Palestine. The Chamber also found that the law related to non-international armed conflict applied to the fighting between Israel and Hamas. The Chamber found that the alleged conduct of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant concerned the activities of Israeli government bodies and the armed forces against the civilian population in Palestine, more specifically civilians in Gaza. It therefore concerned the relationship between two parties to an international armed conflict, as well as the relationship between an occupying power and the population in occupied territory. For these reasons, with regard to war crimes, the Chamber found it appropriate to issue the arrest warrants pursuant to the law of international armed conflict. The Chamber also found that the alleged crimes against humanity were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza. The Chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity, from at least 8 October 2023 to 20 May 2024. This finding is based on the role of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant in impeding humanitarian aid in violation of international humanitarian law and their failure to facilitate relief by all means at their disposal. (continued)
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