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Israeli soccer player detained in Turkey over message marking 100th day since Oct. 7
(JTA) — An Israeli who plays for a Turkish soccer team was detained by police and suspended from his squad after displaying a message marking the passage of 100 days since Oct. 7.
Sagiv Jehezkel, 28, who plays for the top-tier Antalyaspor club, wrote “100 days” and “7.10” on a bandage on his left wrist at a game on Sunday, accompanied by a Star of David, referring to the day when Hamas invaded Israel, killing and wounding thousands and taking hundreds of hostages. He showed the message to the camera after he scored a goal.
Pro-Palestinian sentiment is widespread in Turkey, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan referred to Hamas as a “liberation group” following Oct. 7. After the game, Jehezkel was detained by Turkish authorities for “instigating hatred and enmity among the public,” the country’s justice minister said.
Antalyaspor’s president said Jehezkel “insulted the values of Turkey,” and the team has said it will release him from his contract.
Jehezkel was held for 10 hours and released after questioning from police and court officials. According to the Associated Press, he told police that he was “not pro-war” and said, “I want this 100-day process to come to an end. I want the war to end.” He added, “I have never engaged in anything related to politics since my arrival. I have never disrespected anyone since the day I arrived.”
After his release, Jehezkel returned to Israel, where he was met by fans who cheered and waved Israeli flags to greet him. In Israel, his gesture is being widely interpreted as a call for the release of the hostages taken captive by Hamas on Oct. 7, more than 100 of whom remain held in Gaza.
Jehezkel, who was wrapped in an Israeli flag upon descending from the airplane, reinforced that sentiment after coming home.
“This was the hardest day of my life, but we will be strong,” he said, according to the Israeli publication Ynet. “It is most important that our hostages return and that our heroic soldiers stay healthy, and that the wounded heal. It is most important that the nation of Israel lives.”
Israeli officials slammed Turkey over its detention of Jehezkel. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called Turkey “the executive arm of Hamas” in a tweet, while Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called Turkey a “dark dictatorship, which works against humanitarian values and the values of sports.”
“Whoever arrests a football player for a show of solidarity with 136 captives who are more than 100 days with the terrorists of a murderous terrorist organization, represents a culture of murder and hate,” Katz said.
Jehezkel is the latest in a string of athletes who have been caught in the storm of the Israel-Hamas war and its ripples around the world. Last week, Jewish South African cricket player David Teeger was removed as the captain of his country’s Under-19 national team, which cited the potential for anti-Israel protests against him.
Earlier this month, Algerian soccer player Youcef Atal, who plays for the French club Nice, received an eight-month suspended prison sentence and a fine after he was convicted of inciting religious hatred for sharing an Instagram post calling for “a black day over the Jews.” Atal, who was also suspended by his club, has since apologized for the post.
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The post Israeli soccer player detained in Turkey over message marking 100th day since Oct. 7 appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel Readies for a Nationwide Strike on Sunday
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are calling on for a general strike to be held on Sunday in an effort to compel the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones and a ceasefire. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
The October 7 Council and other groups representing bereaved families of hostages and soldiers who fell since the start of the war declared they were “shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages.”
While many businesses said they would join the strike, Israel’s largest labor federation, the Histadrut, has declined to participate.
Some of the country’s top educational institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, declared their support for the strike.
“We, the members of the university’s leadership, deans, and department heads, hereby announce that on Sunday, each and every one of us will participate in a personal strike as a profound expression of solidarity with the hostage families,” the Hebrew University’s deal wrote to students.
The day will begin at 6:29 AM, to commemorate the start of the October 7 attack, with the first installation at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Further demonstrations are planned at dozens of traffic intersections.
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Netanyahu ‘Has Become a Problem,’Says Danish PM as She Calls for Russia-Style Sanctions Against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem,” his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen said Saturday, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war.
“Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen told Danish media, adding that the Israeli government is going “too far” and lashing out at the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and announced new homes in the West Bank.
“We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she said, specifying she referred to “political pressure, sanctions, whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole.”
“We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect.”
The devastating war in Gaza began almost two years ago, with an incursion into Israel of thousands of Palestinian armed jihadists, who perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
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As Alaska Summit Ends With No Apparent Progress, Zelensky to Meet Trump on Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the press conference after the opening session of Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 August 2023. The Crimea Platform – is an international consultation and coordination format initiated by Ukraine. OLEG PETRASYUK/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – After US President Donald Trump hailed the “great progress” made during a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he was set to meet Trump on Monday at the White House.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference after the meeting.
Many observers noted, however, that the subsequent press conference was a relatively muted affair compared to the pomp and circumstance of the red carpet welcome, and the summit produced no tangible progress.
Trump and Putin spoke briefly, with neither taking questions, and offered general statements about an “understanding” and “progress.”
Putin, who spoke first, agreed with Trump’s long-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Trump been president instead of Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump said “many points were agreed to” and that “just a very few” issues were left to resolve, offering no specifics and making no reference to the ceasefire he’s been seeking.