Israel Issues Veiled Warning to Turkey as Countries Clash Over Gaza Role

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday warned regional powers — in an apparent swipe at Turkey — to abandon any ambitions of restoring an empire, as tensions mount over postwar reconstruction in Gaza and competing efforts to assert regional influence.

At a joint press conference with Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias in Athens, Katz said Israel was determined “not to allow actors seeking to undermine regional stability to establish a foothold through terrorism, aggression, or military proxies — in Syria, in Gaza, in the Aegean Sea, or in any other arena.”

“Those who dream of dragging the region backward, establishing control through terror, or rebuilding empires at the expense of sovereign states will encounter a resolute alliance of free, strong nations capable of defending themselves,” Katz continued.

Last week, US President Donald Trump announced the establishment of the “Gaza Board of Peace” as part of his administration’s 20-point peace plan intended to end the war in Gaza and advance the process into phase two.

Despite vocal opposition from Israel, Trump has invited Turkey — along with Egypt, Argentina, and several other countries — to take part in his newly created initiative.

Israeli officials have repeatedly rejected any Turkish role in Gaza’s postwar reconstruction, warning that Ankara’s push to expand its regional influence could bolster Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure. Turkey has been a longtime backer of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that ruled Gaza before the war and currently controls just over 40 percent of the enclave’s territory.

Beyond now holding a seat on the Board of Peace, Turkey, a NATO ally, is also seeking a role in a multinational force expected to be deployed to the war-torn enclave to oversee reconstruction efforts, prompting Israeli warnings that Ankara could use its position to shield Hamas from disarmament.

Multiple media outlets reported that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has yet to decide whether to accept Trump’s invitation to join the US-led initiative in Gaza, with the country’s participation in the international force still uncertain.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that neither Turkish nor Qatari forces would be allowed in Gaza under the US-backed postwar reconstruction bodies, acknowledging a “certain dispute” with Washington over the issue.

“Turkish or Qatari soldiers will not be in the Strip,” the Israeli leader said in a speech to the Knesset. 

Qatar and Turkey “are barely members of an advisory committee of one of the three commissions, in which they don’t have any authority or any influence or any soldiers,” Netanyahu continued. 

Even as talks advance on phase two of Trump’s peace plan, Netanyahu stressed that Israel is still awaiting the return of slain hostage Ran Gvili’s remains, as stipulated in the first stage of the agreement.

“Phase two means one simple thing: Hamas will be disarmed, and Gaza will be demilitarized,” he said. “We are committed to these goals, and they will be achieved, either the hard way or the easy way.”

Under Trump’s Gaza peace plan, the international board of peace would oversee an interim technocratic Palestinian government in the enclave, supported for at least two years by an International Stabilization Force (ISF).

The ISF — comprising troops from multiple participating countries — will oversee the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, train local security forces, secure Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt, and protect civilians while maintaining humanitarian corridors.

In addition, the ISF would seemingly be expected to take on the responsibility of disarming Hamas — a key component of Trump’s peace plan to end the war in Gaza which the Palestinian terrorist group has repeatedly rejected.

Earlier this month, Erdogan warned that the ISF would fail to earn the trust of the Palestinian people without Turkey’s involvement, signaling Ankara’s determination to assert influence over Gaza’s postwar future.

“It would be impossible for any mechanism to gain the trust of the Palestinian people without Turkey’s involvement,” the Turkish leader said. 

“We are in a key position for such a mission due to our deep historical ties with the Palestinian side, the security and diplomacy channels we have maintained with Israel in the past, and our regional influence as a NATO member country,” he continued.