Defense Minister Israel Katz and a government spokesperson reiterated on Sunday that Israel does not want Turkish soldiers deployed to Gaza as part of a multinational force that is meant to take over from the Israel Defense Forces.
“There will be no Turkish boots on the ground,” Prime Minister’s Office spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told reporters in response to a question.
Israel has already expressed skepticism regarding Turkey’s desire to play a role in postwar Gaza. Relations between the two countries — formerly close allies — collapsed during the two-year war, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised the Hamas terror group and accused Israel of committing genocide.
Turkey suspended its trade with Israel, said it closed its airspace to Israeli planes and, this week, issued arrest warrants for 37 Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, alleging “genocide” in Gaza. Israel adamantly rejects the accusation, and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the warrants “the latest PR stunt by the tyrant Erdogan.”
On Sunday, Katz mentioned the warrants in a tweet asserting that Turkey would not be involved in Gaza’s future. The tweet, written in Turkish and directed at Erdogan, featured an animated image of the Turkish leader standing amid the ruins of Gaza and staring through binoculars that are covered with lids bearing the Israeli flag.
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“Take those ridiculous arrest warrants and get the hell out of here,” a translation of the post reads. “They’re more fitting for the massacres you’ve committed against the Kurds. Israel is strong and unafraid. You’ll only be able to see Gaza through binoculars.”
.@RTErdogan, şu gülünç tutuklama emirlerini al ve buradan defol. Onlar, Kürtlere yaptığın katliama daha uygun. İsrail güçlü ve korkmuyor. Gazze’yi sadece dürbünle görebileceksin. pic.twitter.com/dWhU0IVym4
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) November 9, 2025
Avigdor Liberman, a former senior minister who leads the opposition right-wing Yisrael Beytenu party, wrote on X that the arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials “clearly explain why Turkey should not be present in the Gaza Strip — directly or indirectly.”
Ankara, however, is also a close ally of the United States and was a key mediator of last month’s ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.
US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war calls for a temporary International Stabilization Force made up of international troops to eventually take over Gaza’s security from the IDF, and Turkey has sought to play a role.
Last week, it convened a summit to discuss Gaza with six other Muslim countries, at which Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Palestinians should be in charge of security in the territory.
“Our principle is that Palestinians should govern the Palestinians and ensure their own security. The international community should support this in the best possible way — diplomatically, institutionally, and economically,” Fidan said after the talks.
The force has yet to be established, and many countries are calling for it to have a mandate from the UN Security Council. Other potential participants include Indonesia, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan. The idea of Turkey’s participation has drawn differing reactions from Israel and the US.
In this photo provided by Azerbaijan’s Presidential Press Service, Azebaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, right, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif talk in Baku on Saturday, November 8, 2025. (Azerbaijan’s Presidential Press Service via AP)
Asked about Israel’s objections to Turkish forces in Gaza, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said at a security conference in Bahrain earlier this month that Turkey would participate.
“The ceasefire in Gaza would not have happened without Turkey,” Barrack said, adding that it “was actually Turkey’s relationship with Hamas” that played a critical part in reaching the truce.
He also gave a nod to Israel’s concerns, saying they were born of mutual distrust between the countries that was unwarranted. He predicted relations would improve.
“For the moment, I think, everything stands still. Turkey will be a participant,” he said. He added later, “My bet, by the way, with Turkey and Israel is if we hold together, if the momentum holds together… in not too long of a time you will see a trade deal between Turkey and Israel.”
US Vice President JD Vance last month said there would be a “constructive role” for Ankara to play but that Washington wouldn’t force anything on Israel when it came to foreign troops “on their soil.”
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