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Israel will not accept the presence of Turkish armed forces in Gaza under a U.S.-backed plan to end the war in the Palestinian territory, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Monday.
Speaking at a press conference in Budapest alongside Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, Saar said, “Countries that want or are ready to send armed forces should be at least fair to Israel.”
“Türkiye, led by Erdogan, has taken a hostile approach toward Israel,” he said. “It is not reasonable for us to let their armed forces enter the Gaza Strip, and we will not agree to that. We have communicated this to our American friends.”
Relations between Israel and Türkiye, once close allies, deteriorated sharply during the Gaza war, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly condemned Israel’s air and ground operations in the enclave.
U.S. President Trump’s plan includes deploying an international force in Gaza to maintain the fragile ceasefire that began earlier this month, ending two years of war between Israel and Hamas.
The U.S. has ruled out sending its own troops but has approached Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye and Azerbaijan to contribute to the multinational mission.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu signaled his opposition to any role for Turkish security forces in Gaza, stating that Israel would decide which foreign troops could be deployed.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during a visit to Israel on Friday, said the international force “must be made up of countries that Israel is comfortable with.” He did not comment on whether Türkiye would participate.
Meanwhile, search efforts continue in Gaza for the bodies of Israeli captives. Egyptian specialists, working alongside Hamas, have been using heavy equipment to locate 13 remaining bodies.
Israel has allowed search teams from Egypt, Hamas and the Red Cross to enter Israeli-occupied areas of Gaza for recovery operations.
Hamas has so far returned 18 bodies and 20 living captives since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10.
Israel, in turn, has returned the bodies of 195 Palestinians, many of whom showed signs of torture, according to reports.
Despite the truce, violence has persisted.
A new Israeli drone strike in Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis, killed at least one person and injured several others, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Since the ceasefire began 16 days ago, Israeli forces have killed 93 people and wounded 324 others in Gaza.
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