Istanbul court begins trial of 35 Israelis over Global Sumud Flotilla attack

The first hearing in the trial of 35 Israelis, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, began in Istanbul over charges related to the attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. The prosecution is seeking aggravated life imprisonment for each defendant.

The Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court began the first hearing in the trial of 35 Israelis, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a case filed over the attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The plaintiffs, Rıza Saka, president of the Istanbul 2nd Bar Association, lawyers and a large number of observers attended the hearing.

The court heard statements from those affected by the attack on the flotilla’s vessels in international waters in the eastern Mediterranean in October 2025. According to the indictment, the Israeli navy intercepted the civilian flotilla in international waters, seized the vessels by force and transferred those aboard to Israel against their will, before Turkish citizens were flown back to Türkiye on October 4, 7, 9 and 10, 2025.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

The indictment includes charges of crimes against humanity, genocide, deprivation of liberty, torture, damage to property, looting, obstructing transportation, abduction and unlawful detention. The prosecution is seeking aggravated life imprisonment for each defendant, in addition to prison sentences ranging from 1,102 to 4,596 years.

The indictment maintains that armed intervention in international waters, depriving people of their liberty and forcibly transferring them violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and that preventing access to food, water, medicine and essential services in Gaza could amount to crimes against humanity and genocide.