Turkey has issued arrest warrants accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior members of his government of genocide.
The Istanbul prosecutor’s office said in a statement that among the 37 suspects listed were Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Army Chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir. In contrast, the complete list was not made public.
Turkey has accused the officials of committing “genocide and crimes against humanity” that “Israel” has “perpetrated systematically” in Gaza, and the statement also mentions the “Turkish-Palestinian friendship hospital” that Turkey built in the Gaza Strip and that was bombed by Israel in March.
The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, built by Turkey in Gaza in 2017, serves as a major healthcare and training centre and later became the territory’s only oncology facility. In March 2025, it was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes, leaving Gaza without its primary cancer-treatment hospital and drawing condemnation from Türkiye and human rights groups.
Hamas commends Turkey’s arrest warrant
Responding to Turkiye’s move, Hamas issued a statement commending the warrants issued against the Israeli officials.
In its statement, Hamas praised the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s decision to issue arrest warrants for 37 Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, whom it called a war criminal, along with current and former defence ministers Galant and Katz, describing them as perpetrators of terrorism.
“This commendable step affirms the genuine positions of the Turkish people and their leadership, aligned with the values of justice and humanity, and the brotherhood that binds them to our oppressed Palestinian people, who have faced, and continue to face, the most brutal campaign of extermination in modern history at the hands of war criminals among the leaders of the fascist occupation,” the statement said.
Concluding its statement, Hamas called on countries and judicial bodies worldwide to issue legal warrants to pursue the leaders of the Israeli occupation, bringing them to court and holding them accountable for their crimes against humanity.
