The New York Times
Turkey Offered to Help in Postwar Gaza. Israel Isn’t About to Say Yes.
As a guarantor of the cease-fire, Turkey is keen to play a role in Gaza’s future, seeing political and economic benefits. Israel is having none of it.
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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sitting at a desk and being shown a binder by a woman standing next to him.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, at a conference devoted to ending the war in Gaza, this month in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Ben HubbardDavid M. Halbfinger
By Ben Hubbard and David M. Halbfinger
Ben Hubbard reported from Istanbul, and David M. Halbfinger from Jerusalem.
Oct. 26, 2025, 5:01 a.m. ET
Turkey has emerged as a key actor in solidifying the initial cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and hopes to leverage its powerful military, its experienced construction firms and its relationship with Hamas to play a role in the territory’s future.
But Israel is staunchly opposed.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan helped press Hamas to accept the cease-fire, making Turkey a key guarantor. But throughout the war, he has harshly criticized Israel and stood by Hamas, which Turkey does not consider a terrorist organization as Israel and other countries do.
As the war escalated, Mr. Erdogan cut off diplomatic relations and trade with Israel. He routinely calls the war a genocide and has compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to Adolf Hitler.
During Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel this week, reporters asked Mr. Netanyahu whether he would allow Turkish security personnel to play a role in postwar Gaza. “I have very strong opinions on that,” he responded. “You want to guess what they are?”
Mr. Vance has said that the United States would not force anything on Israel “when it comes to foreign troops,” but suggested that Turkey could play a “constructive role.”
What Turkey could bring to the table
This month, Mr. Erdogan said that Turkey would “meticulously monitor the word-for-word implementation” of the cease-fire deal and participate in on-the-ground enforcement and rebuilding.
“We will support the reconstruction activities with the international community to put Gaza back on its feet,” he said.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, said last week that Turkish officials had helped monitor the initial cease-fire. He added that before Turkey could decide whether to participate in a proposed international stabilization force for Gaza, its structure and rules of engagement had to be defined.
On Thursday, a spokesman for the Turkish Defense Ministry told reporters that the ministry was ready to help “protect the peace with its experience from previous peace missions.” The duties of a stabilization force, he added, could include aid delivery, security patrols, border monitoring and the protection of civilian infrastructure.
Why Israel objects to Turkish involvement
Israel has many reasons to distrust Turkey’s intentions in Gaza, given its longstanding political support for Hamas.
Israeli officials worry that Turkey wants to help the militant group survive in Gaza, rather than assist in dismantling it.
“If you want to have peace, if you want Hamas to disappear,” then Turkey could not play a role in Gaza, Amichai Chikli, a minister in Mr. Netanyahu’s government, said in an interview.
“Turkey supports Hamas,” he said. “That’s a very simple equation.”
Of course, it was Turkey’s relationship with Hamas that enabled Mr. Erdogan’s government to press its leaders to agree to the cease-fire. “That is how ultimately Turkey came to sit at that table,” said Sinan Ulgen, director of Edam, an Istanbul-based research institution. “It is based on its relationship with Hamas, not on its relationship with Israel.”
Israel is also wary of Turkish aid efforts in Gaza. In 2010, an independent Turkish aid group organized a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, which Israel had blockaded since 2007, after Hamas came to power. Israeli commandos raided it and nine activists were killed aboard the Mavi Marmara ship, prompting international condemnation. Israel accused the flotilla activists of supporting Hamas.
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A large group of people waving red, green and white flags and surrounding a large ship.
People waving Palestinian and Turkish flags as the Mavi Marmara returns to Istanbul in 2010 after being stormed by Israeli commandos months earlier.Credit...Burhan Ozbilici/Associated Press
On a visit to Israel this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that an international stabilization force in Gaza would have to be made up of “countries that Israel’s comfortable with.”
Gallia Lindenstrauss, an expert on Israeli-Turkish relations at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said that having Turkish troops in proximity to Israeli soldiers could be risky: “What would happen if there would be an accidental clash?”
Ms. Lindenstrauss said that Israel doubts whether the Turks seek a role “to implement the cease-fire as written or to influence the situation on the ground in ways that they want and also to have more leverage against Israel.”
What Turkey wants in Gaza
Politics, both at home and abroad, underpin Turkey’s motivation to seek a role in postwar Gaza, analysts say.
“There is broad support among the public for Turkey taking a role in the stabilization and eventually the reconstruction of Gaza,” Mr. Ulgen said. “It also allows Erdogan to continue to uphold his image as an influential leader at the international level, which plays well with his domestic constituency.”
Ahmet Kasim Han, a professor of international relations at Beykoz University in Istanbul, said Turkey was also seeking a role for its construction companies to help rebuild Gaza, if someone else pays for it.
Mr. Erdogan’s government also envisions a political role for Hamas in Gaza’s future, Mr. Han said.
“Turkey wants Hamas to remain relevant and it realizes that the only way for Hamas to remain relevant is for it to give up its arms,” he said, adding that he was skeptical that Hamas would heed Turkey’s call. “Neither Turkey nor anyone else can force Hamas to do that.”
Safak Timur contributed reporting from Istanbul.
Ben Hubbard is the Istanbul bureau chief, covering Turkey and the surrounding region.
David M. Halbfinger is the Jerusalem bureau chief, leading coverage of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. He also held that post from 2017 to 2021. He was the Politics editor of The Times from 2021 to 2025.
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Several people picking up and carrying boxes and bags on a dusty street.
Palestinians collecting aid packages this month in Khan Younis, Gaza.Credit...Saher Alghorra for The New York Times
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