ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Turkey’s justice ministry on Friday said it has requested Interpol to issue “red notices” for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and another Israeli official over charges including genocide and crimes against activists aboard an aid flotilla bound for Gaza.

Turkey’s Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said on X that his ministry had requested the interior ministry “to issue red notices for their international arrest” in a case involving 35 defendants, including Netanyahu and Afek Moskovitch.

He said Netanyahu’s administration “is being prosecuted” over a range of charges, including crimes against humanity and genocide, in connection with its interception of civilians delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza in international waters and the detention of activists.

Israel in May intercepted about 50 vessels in the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying some 430 activists that had left Turkey for Palestinian territory, sparking an international outcry. France, Italy and Australia have also launched judicial proceedings.

The activists were detained in the Mediterranean by the Israeli military and taken to an Israeli prison before being expelled.

Tensions between Turkey and Israel have increasingly escalated in recent years, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s outspoken condemnation of Israel’s war in Gaza underscoring the two regional powers’ rival bids for greater influence in the Middle East.

The latest development also comes amid heightened tensions between the two countries after the Israeli military conducted eight airstrikes against Syria’s Abu al-Duhur military airbase in northwestern Idlib province on Tuesday, causing material damage but no injuries. Tel Aviv later claimed the attack was prompted by Ankara’s plans to deploy Turkish forces at the airport.