ANKARA — Turkey has issued an international arrest warrant for Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of an investigation into Israel's interception of an aid flotilla for Gaza, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced Friday on X.

 

Turkey has already issued warrants against Netanyahu and other top officials for "genocide" over Israel's actions in the Gaza war.

 

Turkey and Israel traded barbs on Friday after Ankara announced it had sought an international arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing him of "genocide" linked to the interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

 

Turkey has become a virulent critic of Israel's war in Gaza. 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 an Interpol red notice 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".

 

IHA, citing the indictment, said Moskovitch had posted footage on Instagram showing tanks and a bulldozer destroying buildings at the Islamic University of Gaza, including a hospital and medical faculty.

 

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 also sparked outrage by releasing a video showing himself taunting flotilla activists who were on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs.