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Trump faces Middle East test as Netanyahu balks at Erdogan’s Gaza troop hopes
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President Donald Trump is facing a pivotal decision that could define the next phase of his Middle East policy: whether to allow Turkish troops into Gaza as part of a U.S.-backed stabilization force. The move, which Ankara is lobbying for, has triggered alarm in Israel and among Arab allies who view Turkey’s ambitions and Islamist ties as a threat to regional stability.
According to Middle East Eye, Turkey is preparing a brigade of at least 2,000 soldiers drawn from multiple branches of its military to join the mission once a U.N. Security Council mandate is approved. Israel has flatly rejected the idea. «There will be no Turkish boots on the ground,» an Israeli government spokesperson told reporters.
Trump has publicly praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as «a very strong leader,» signaling renewed trust and raising questions over whether personal diplomacy could outweigh Israel’s concerns. His decision will test Washington’s ability to balance its closest Middle East ally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with a NATO partner that has long hosted Hamas leaders and positioned itself as their defender.
TRUMP SIGNALS NEW TRUST IN ERDOGAN, RAISING CONCERNS OVER TURKEY’S AMBITIONS IN GAZA AND BEYOND
President Donald Trump speaks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport before boarding his plane to Sharm el-Sheikh, on Oct. 13, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. President Trump is visiting the country hours after Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages captured on Oct. 7, 2023, part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.)
Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, said Trump must recognize the depth of the ideological divide between Israel and Erdogan’s government.
«Trump is an economic warrior and a dealmaker. He wants to put everyone in his Middle East regional deal by embracing enemies and allies alike,» Diker said. «But he doesn’t take into account the profoundly deep-rooted enmity that Erdogan’s government embodies. Turkey is not a friend of the United States and the Western alliance, even though it’s a NATO member. It is currently on a mission to assert itself as an Islamic imperial power in the Middle East.»
Diker warned that Erdogan’s ambitions, combined with his support for Hamas, pose a direct challenge to both Israel and NATO. «You want to talk about an occupier? They’re the major occupiers of Syria right now, and they see themselves as the determining Islamic power in Gaza. This is a very dangerous moment, and the president would be well advised to back Israel without conditions,» he said.
He warned Erdogan is «publicly supporting and financing an international Islamic terror organization.» Diker said NATO «must not allow» this and that Trump «cannot allow himself to compromise the principles of America first, which is Israel first and the West first.»
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaks to the attendees during a rally to show their solidarity with the Palestinians, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday, Oct. 28. (Emrah Gurel/AP)
The reported preparations come as Trump has described Erdogan as «highly respected» and «a very strong leader,» signaling renewed trust between Washington and Ankara and raising concerns inside Israel about Turkey’s growing influence. In recent months, Erdogan has intensified his rhetoric against Israel while positioning himself as the indispensable power for Gaza’s reconstruction and future governance.
For Israeli officials and analysts, Turkey’s intentions extend far beyond humanitarian assistance. Former Israeli National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror said the prospect of Turkish troops entering Gaza is unacceptable. «I am not at all sure Turkish forces will enter, and if they do, it will be very bad. I think Israel must stand firmly on its feet to prevent Turkish forces from entering,» he told Fox News Digital.
AS TRUMP ADMIN PUSHES GAZA PEACE PLAN, HISTORY SHOWS UN PEACEKEEPING’S MIXED RECORD
President Donald Trump greets Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a summit to support ending the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. (Evan Vucci AP Photo/ Pool)
Amidror said Turkey’s ambitions are incompatible with Israeli security needs. «Turkey is a power with a desire to expand its borders and its influence into areas that are relevant to us, and therefore we must not accept a Turkish army in Gaza.»
He added that Israel must retain operational freedom inside Gaza even after the war. «Israel must not give up Israeli freedom of action, like in Lebanon. The moment Hamas rebuilds itself, we will act as we do in Lebanon.»
Israel’s concern is rooted in years of tensions with Ankara, including Erdoğan’s support for Hamas, his political embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood, and clashes over Syria, where Ankara opposed Israeli and Western-backed Kurdish forces and backed Islamist militias that Israel viewed as destabilizing. The bilateral relationship has been marked by repeated diplomatic crises and years of heated personal exchanges between Erdogan and Netanyahu.
Gonul Tol, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and author of «Erdogan’s War: A Strongman’s Struggle at Home and in Syria,» said Turkey’s aggressive Gaza posture is deeply tied to Erdogan’s domestic political survival and his long-standing support for Islamist movements across the region.
«The primary goal there is domestic politics,» she said. «Erdogan has always framed himself as the champion of the Palestinian cause, and by his most conservative constituency, he’s often pushed to take a strong stance against Israel.»
TRUMP’S SWIPE AT ‘WEAK’ LEADERS HIGHLIGHTS THE SHIFTING GLOBAL INFLUENCE OF WESTERN NATIONS
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holds a signed document during a summit to support ending the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. (Suzanne Plunkett/Pool via AP)
Tol said Erdogan hardened his tone after suffering major losses in Turkey’s 2024 municipal elections. «His party lost all major cities to the opposition, and one of the lessons that Erdogan had drawn from that loss was that he thought he did not do a good job in terms of Gaza to his constituency.»
Competing Islamist parties used Gaza to attack him politically. «They criticized Erdogan on the campaign trail saying that Erdogan says all these things, but when it comes to taking steps that would punish Israel, Erdogan didn’t do much.»
But Tol noted that Erdogan has also been pragmatic behind the scenes, particularly in his dealings with Washington. «People in his circle say the Hamas leadership had been asked to leave Turkey quietly. They are doing everything not to anger the Trump administration,» she said. She added that Erdogan even pushed Hamas to accept Trump’s Gaza proposal, noting that it included provisions that did not favor the organization.
TRUMP PEACE PLAN FOR GAZA COULD BE JUST A ‘PAUSE’ BEFORE HAMAS STRIKES AGAIN, EXPERTS WARN
The IDF announced that as part of the ceasefire agreement and in accordance with the directive of the political echelon, IDF troops under the Southern Command have begun marking the Yellow Line in the Gaza Strip to establish tactical clarity on the ground. (IDF)
Yet Erdogan’s ideological track record fuels regional suspicion. For years, Turkey openly backed Muslim Brotherhood from Libya to Syria to Egypt. «There is this Arab uprising package that Turkey carries around,» Tol explained. «Turkey supported, logistically and militarily, Muslim Brotherhood groups opposing those regimes.» This history, she said, casts doubt on Ankara’s intentions in Gaza in the eyes of Arab partners such as Egypt and Saudi.
Galia Lindenstrauss, senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Turkey’s ideology and political goals clash with the aims of Israel. «Turkey has a very pro-Palestinian stance. And not only that, it has a pro-Hamas stance. It wants Hamas to remain a relevant actor in the day after,» she said.
She also pointed to actions that erode trust, including Ankara’s 2024 trade restrictions on Israel and arrest warrants issued for dozens of Israeli officials. She said Turkey continues meeting Hamas leaders publicly, showing «no sign of any change in the Turkish stance.»
The combination of Islamist sympathies, political ambition and hardening anti-Israel rhetoric «raises suspicion that any Turkish action is not sincere in the attempt to weaken Hamas,» she said.
The United States is now navigating the power struggle. According to a State Department readout on Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss «the ceasefire in Gaza and next steps to ensure stability in the region.» The meeting highlighted close coordination with Ankara even as Washington has not decided whether to include Turkish troops.
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Suspected terrorists in Gaza come out of hiding as cease-fire for hostages deal gets underway in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah area. (TPS-IL)
Tol said the outcome «will all come down to how strongly President Trump is willing to push all parties to accept» or reject Turkey’s participation. Lindenstrauss added that Ankara expects Trump to resolve disputes with Israel over Gaza and in Syria that it cannot solve alone.
Requests for comment from the Turkish Embassy spokesperson in Washington, D.C., were not returned.
israel,turkey,donald trump,hamas,middle east,syria
INTERNACIONAL
La mega cárcel a la que fue trasladado Jorge Glas tiene un avance de construcción del 30 por ciento
Daniel Noboa reconoció públicamente que la llamada “Cárcel del Encuentro”, el nuevo penal de máxima seguridad al que fue trasladado el ex vicepresidente Jorge Glas y varios cabecillas del crimen organizado, aún no está terminada. En una entrevista radial, el presidente detalló que el complejo carcelario está “entre el 35% y el 40%” de avance, pero defendió la decisión de adelantar el traslado de los reclusos más peligrosos por razones de seguridad y prometió que la obra se completará en las próximas semanas.
En diálogo con Radio Sucre, Noboa respondió a las críticas sobre el envío de presos a una cárcel cuya construcción sigue en marcha. “La cárcel no está al 100%, no está al 100%, pero ya está al 35–40%. En dos semanas estará al 80% y se finalizará el último pabellón y las últimas cosas en un mes”, aseguró. Con esa descripción, el mandatario trazó por primera vez un cronograma público de la obra, que el Gobierno ha presentado como emblema de su ofensiva contra el narcotráfico y las bandas criminales.
El anuncio llega después del traslado de Jorge Glas y de otros presos de alto perfil al nuevo penal, lo que encendió el debate sobre las condiciones de la infraestructura y la legalidad de las decisiones penitenciarias. Mientras organizaciones y voces críticas cuestionan que se use un centro “en obra gris” para alojar a personas privadas de libertad, el Gobierno sostiene que la prioridad es neutralizar la capacidad de mando de los líderes criminales desde las cárceles tradicionales. Noboa reiteró que los primeros en ser trasladados fueron “los más malos, los que ya desde la cárcel se pasaban organizando asesinatos y secuestros”.
El presidente vinculó directamente la premura por habilitar la Cárcel del Encuentro con el clima político previo al referéndum y consulta popular del 16 de noviembre. Según su versión, grupos delictivos estarían buscando desestabilizar al país ante la posibilidad de una victoria del “sí” en las preguntas impulsadas por el Ejecutivo. “Era urgente viendo lo alterados que están, porque está ganando el sí y quieren hacer relajo y quieren matar la mayor cantidad de gente para decir que este gobierno fracasa”, afirmó. No presentó pruebas concretas durante la entrevista, pero insistió en que la lectura de inteligencia del Gobierno justificaba adelantar el uso parcial del complejo penitenciario.
Más allá de esa coyuntura, Noboa enmarcó la Cárcel del Encuentro en un rediseño más amplio del sistema penitenciario. El mandatario sostuvo que no se trata de una obra aislada, sino del primer paso de un plan que incluye la construcción de otro gran centro carcelario de mediana seguridad, también en la Costa, con capacidad para unas 15.000 personas privadas de libertad. “Se va a construir otra cerca, grande, no de máxima seguridad, sino de mediana seguridad, para aproximadamente 15.000 personas”, adelantó. Según su diagnóstico, en el sistema actual hay entre 6.000 y 7.000 presos en hacinamiento y varias cárceles que “nunca se arreglaron” y hoy son inseguras tanto para los funcionarios como para los internos.
Noboa describió problemas estructurales en las prisiones tradicionales: puertas e infraestructura que no funcionan, flujos internos que no permiten reaccionar ante emergencias y pabellones donde el Estado ha perdido el control frente a las bandas. Argumentó que el nuevo complejo y la futura cárcel de mediana seguridad buscan justamente revertir ese escenario, concentrando a los internos de mayor peligrosidad en espacios controlados y tecnológicamente monitoreados, y reordenando el resto de la población penitenciaria.
La Cárcel del Encuentro se ha convertido en un símbolo del enfoque de Noboa en seguridad: una mezcla de infraestructura penitenciaria de alta seguridad, discurso de mano dura y comunicación directa en redes sociales. Días antes, el presidente difundió en X (antes Twitter) una imagen en la que aparecían Glas y otros procesados y condenados por delitos graves, acompañada de un mensaje en el que advertía que “pronto llegarán otros criminales” al nuevo penal. El gesto fue leído por sus críticos como una utilización política de los expedientes judiciales, al calor de la campaña por el referéndum.
En la entrevista radial, el mandatario buscó presentar la cárcel no solo como un símbolo, sino como una respuesta funcional a la violencia que ha sacudido al país en los últimos años. Su narrativa conecta la construcción acelerada del penal con otros elementos de política pública, como los decretos de estado de excepción, las operaciones contra la minería ilegal y la cooperación internacional en seguridad. A la vez, insiste en que la actual Constitución —que él pretende reformar a través de una Asamblea Constituyente si triunfa el “sí”— “beneficia a los criminales” y limita la acción de las fuerzas del orden.
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Former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James are aiming to convince a federal judge on Thursday that Lindsey Halligan, who brought criminal charges against both of them, is an unlawful U.S. attorney.
Lawyers for Comey and James plan to make their arguments during a hearing in Virginia to Judge Cameron Currie, a Clinton appointee tasked with deciding Halligan’s fate.
President Donald Trump installed Halligan in September as the top prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia days after ousting Erik Siebert, who opposed charging Comey and James, two of the president’s top political nemeses. Amid the change, Trump posted a remarkable message to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Truth Social, indicating that he wanted revenge for his own prior prosecutions and that Bondi needed to act fast.
Halligan, a former insurance lawyer with no prosecutorial experience, brought the indictments almost immediately. Her name was the lone signature on each of them, and no Virginia prosecutors joined the case.
TRUMP’S US ATTORNEYS IN BLUE STATES FACE LEGAL CHALLENGES THAT COULD UPEND KEY PROSECUTIONS
President Donald Trump named lawyer Lindsey Halligan as interim U.S. Attorney Eastern District of Virginia in September. (Marco Bello/AFP via Getty Images)
In court briefs, Comey’s and James’ lawyers have said Halligan’s appointment was defective because Bondi improperly designated her as an interim U.S. attorney after Siebert had already served in that position, which had a 120-day term limit that had expired.
Because Halligan was the lone prosecutor to sign the grand jury indictments, legal experts have said that could be their fatal flaw if the courts deem her invalid.
Bondi has since said she retroactively ratified the indictments and designated Halligan a «special attorney» for the «avoidance of doubt,» according to court filings.
«In all events, the government has endorsed the prosecutions, and the Attorney General has personally ratified the indictments to obviate any question as to their validity,» DOJ lawyers wrote.
COMEY SEEKS TO TOSS CRIMINAL CASE CALLING TRUMP PROSECUTOR ‘UNLAWFUL’ APPOINTEE
Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks alongside President Donald Trump on recent Supreme Court rulings in the briefing room at the White House on June 27, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Halligan’s appointment came as part of a series of maneuvers the Trump administration has made to bypass the Senate confirmation process and keep in place his preferred appointees in temporary capacities using loopholes in federal vacancy laws. Federal judges in New Jersey, California and Nevada have disqualified appointees in those states, and the New Jersey case is now pending before an appellate court. The issue could be bound for the Supreme Court.
Comey’s lawyers argued in court papers that Currie, the judge presiding over the issue, «should reject the government’s machinations.»
Comey is facing a charge that he made a false statement to Congress and James is facing a bank fraud allegation.
DOJ DEFENDS TRUMP TRUTH SOCIAL POST AS COMEY SEEKS TO HAVE CASE DISMISSED
Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee about his interactions with President Donald Trump and the Russia investigation on June 8, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Both have pleaded not guilty and have argued their indictments should be tossed out on the grounds that Halligan was improperly appointed and that they were selectively and vindictively prosecuted.
If Comey’s and James’ charges were to be thrown out, it is unclear what would happen. The DOJ could appeal or attempt to bring them again, depending on how the courts rule.
Fox News’ Bill Mears and David Spunt contributed to this report.
justice department,pam bondi,judiciary,virginia,donald trump
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