Turkey announced Friday that it has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 36 senior Israeli officials on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity related to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

The warrants, issued by Istanbul’s prosecutor’s office, target a total of 37 Israeli leaders, including Defense Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir. The office did not publish a full list of names but accused the officials of “systematically perpetrating genocide” in Gaza.

Israel swiftly rejected the charges.

“Israel firmly rejects, with contempt, the absurd announcement from Erdogan’s regime,” said Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. “This is the latest PR stunt by the tyrant Erdogan — a man who imprisons his own mayors and journalists while pretending to stand for justice.”

Sa’ar added that Turkey’s judiciary “has long ceased to be independent,” accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of weaponizing the courts against political rivals. “The same system that jailed Istanbul’s elected mayor now claims to sit in judgment over Israel,” he said, referring to Ekrem Imamoglu, detained earlier this year for challenging Erdogan in national elections.

The move marks an escalation in Ankara’s campaign against Israel amid the fragile ceasefire now holding in Gaza under U.S. President Donald Trump’s regional peace framework. Turkey has been one of the loudest voices condemning Israel’s two-year war with Hamas, which began after the terror group’s October 7, 2023 massacre of Israeli civilians in the south.

Ankara last year joined South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide — a claim Israel has vehemently denied as false and antisemitic.

Turkey’s statement Friday also referenced the destruction of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in Gaza, which Israel struck in March. The IDF said at the time the building was being used by Hamas operatives and had not functioned as a hospital for over a year.

Hamas praised Turkey’s move, calling it “a commendable measure confirming the sincere positions of the Turkish people and their leaders, who are committed to justice, humanity, and fraternity with our oppressed Palestinian people.”

Israeli officials called it hypocrisy.

Former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said the move “clearly explains why Turkey should play no role — direct or indirect — in post-war Gaza.”

Ankara has sought to join an international stabilization force planned to administer Gaza under Trump’s peace initiative. But Israeli leaders have resisted, citing Turkey’s open ties with Hamas and Erdogan’s anti-Israel rhetoric.

“Any involvement by Turkey in Gaza’s reconstruction or governance would be unacceptable,” one senior Israeli official told reporters. “You can’t support Hamas one day and claim to be a peacekeeper the next.”

Some see the arrest warrants as part of Erdogan’s broader effort to position himself as the Muslim world’s chief defender of Palestinians while distracting from Turkey’s economic troubles and democratic backsliding.

The move follows years of deteriorating relations between Ankara and Jerusalem, once close regional allies turned bitter adversaries under Erdogan’s Islamist-leaning government.

Analysts note that while the warrants carry no legal weight outside Turkey, they serve Erdogan’s political objectives: bolstering his domestic popularity and isolating Israel diplomatically.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)