By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ANKARA/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Turkey has detained Israeli soccer player Sagiv Jehezkel for displaying a message about the Hamas massacre of some 1,200 people and kidnappings of 240 others 100 days ago in Israel.
Jehezkel scored a goal for his team and then displayed a message reading “100 days. 07/10” on a bandage on his wrist, clearly referring to the October 7 atrocities by Hamas, viewed as an Islamist terrorist organization by Israel.
The atrocities, the worst on record in the 75-year history of the state of Israel, sparked the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Turkish Minister of Justice Sagiv Jehezkel said the soccer player was held as the incident amounted to “incitement to hatred” after his club, Antalyaspor, sacked him over the matter.
“Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has initiated a judicial investigation against Israeli football player Sagiv Jehezkel for ‘inciting people to hatred and hostility.’ [This is] due to his ugly gesture supporting Israel’s massacre in Gaza after scoring a goal in the Antalyaspor-Trabzonspor Super Lig match,” Tunc wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
It was not immediately clear when and if a trial will begin.
BROADER TENSIONS
However, the arrest comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğa compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to German Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler while discussing Israel’s war in Gaza.
‘‘Is what Netanyahu is doing any less than Hitler? It is not,’’ Erdogan said in televised remarks in Ankara, Turkey, at a science awards ceremony. The Turkish leader has frequently criticized Israel for its conduct in Gaza.
“They were talking ill of Hitler. What difference do you have from Hitler? They will make us miss Hitler,” Erdogan added.
Netanyahu fired back, condemning Erdogan’s treatment of Turkey’s significant Kurdish minority, saying the Turkish leader “is the last person who can preach morality to us” and condemning his support for Hamas.
The Israeli military, Netanyahu said, “is fighting to eliminate the most abhorrent and brutal terrorist organization in the world.”
The Hamas-run health ministry claims about 24,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel, but those figures have been complex to verify independently. Israel says it targets Hamas but accuses the group of using civilians as human shields.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Britain and Germany signed a landmark treaty Thursday to provide each other defense assistance and closer cooperation on migration, amid European concerns over U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s “America First” stance.
Christians in Indonesia’s West Java province are reeling from mob attacks carried out by Muslim hardliners seeking to prevent church services and halt the construction of places of worship.
A mass sea baptism involving five churches and 92 believers has drawn national attention in Britain. Christians call it a powerful sign of a “quiet revival” spreading nationwide.
Moroccan community leaders in the southeastern town of Torre Pacheco have called for calm after four nights of violent clashes between North African migrants and far-right protesters.
A new U.S. intelligence assessment reveals that last month’s airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure largely succeeded in destroying the heavily fortified Fordow enrichment facility, while only partially damaging two other sites–Isfahan and Natanz–raising concerns over Iran’s ability to resume uranium enrichment within months.
Israel has launched a forceful military intervention in southern Syria aimed at protecting the embattled Druze minority, after more than 500 people were killed in four days of bloody conflict in the province of As-Suwayda. The fighting, sparked by sectarian tensions between Druze militias, Bedouin tribal fighters, and Syrian regime forces, was intensified by alleged atrocities against Druze civilians–prompting Israel to act.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition plunged into deeper crisis Wednesday as the ultra-Orthodox Shas party announced its ministers were resigning from the government in protest of the failure to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from military service. The move, while not an official departure from the coalition, further weakens Netanyahu’s grip on power, reducing his effective support in the Knesset to just 60 out of 120 members.