Ankara: Turkey issued an international arrest warrant for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of an investigation into Israel's interception of an aid flotilla bound for Gaza and the subsequent detention of hundreds of activists on board, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced. In response, Netanyahu's office labeled Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as an anti-Semitic dictator.
According to France24.com, the geopolitical tension escalated further with the arrival of the USS George Washington aircraft carrier strike group in the Middle East. This deployment was to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, which had been criticized for deteriorating living conditions on board amidst President Donald Trump's ongoing conflict with Iran.
Additionally, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent addressed America's allies, stating they had to choose sides regarding the economic isolation of Iran. This followed President Trump's announcement of new sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic.
Meanwhile, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for targeting an airport and a facility owned by the state-run oil giant Aramco in Saudi Arabia's southern Najran region, intensifying the regional conflict near the Yemeni border.