The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has prepared an indictment against 35 suspects, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over an armed intervention against the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza last year.

The Indictment seeks aggravated life sentences as well as prison terms ranging from 1,102 years and 9 months to 4,596 years for each suspect on charges, including “crimes against humanity,” “genocide,” “deprivation of liberty,” “torture,” “damage to property,” “qualified looting,” and “obstructing, hijacking or detaining transportation vehicles.”

According to the indictment, activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla were en route to Gaza via sea vessels to deliver humanitarian aid when Israeli naval forces carried out an attack in international waters.

It said that following the attack, an ex officio investigation was launched by the prosecutor’s office within the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Article 15 of Türkiye’s Criminal Procedure Code, and Articles 12 and 13 of the Turkish Penal Code regarding jurisdiction.

In September 2025, Israeli forces stopped the Global Sumud Flotilla in what organizers described as an unlawful intervention, boarded them, detained volunteers, and took them to Israel. (Anadolu Agency)