A Warrant Tied to the Flotilla Interception.
Turkey issued an international arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, as part of an investigation into Israel’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc announced. Turkish authorities had opened the investigation over what the flotilla faced while sailing to deliver aid to Gaza, after an attack in international waters that Ankara attributed to Israeli naval forces, in violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
37 Suspects Named Under Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity Charges
The move builds on arrest warrants Turkey had already issued against Netanyahu and several senior Israeli officials on genocide charges over Israel’s military operations during the war on Gaza. Turkish courts issued those warrants in November 2025 against Netanyahu and several Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yisrael Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. Istanbul’s public prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the arrest warrants target 37 suspects. However, it did not publish a complete list of names, adding that the warrants were issued on suspicion of genocide and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Hind Rajab, Al-Ahli Hospital, and a Pattern the Prosecution Calls “Systematic”
The prosecutor’s office said the on-duty criminal court of peace issued the warrants Friday at its request, as the multi-pronged investigation continues in careful detail. It said the case file includes the killing of six-year-old Hind Rajab on January 29, 2024; the attack on al-Ahli Baptist Hospital on October 17, 2023, which killed 500 people; the deliberate destruction of medical equipment on February 29, 2024; and the bombing of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital on March 21, 2025, alongside the targeting of healthcare institutions and the obstruction of aid delivery — actions the prosecution described as forming a “systematic pattern.”
The warrant adds to a growing body of international legal action against senior Israeli officials over their conduct of the Gaza war, following a wave of global outrage in May 2026 over video showing Ben Gvir’s treatment of detained Global Sumud Flotilla activists. While such warrants carry largely symbolic weight given Netanyahu’s unlikely travel to Turkey or extradition prospects, they reflect mounting international legal pressure on Israel’s leadership, running in parallel with efforts before the International Criminal Court and national courts in other countries pursuing individual accountability for alleged war crimes in Gaza.