Turkish-owned ships have continued to call at Israeli ports during the Iran war, and one vessel allegedly hid those trips by signaling Egypt as its destination, switching off its tracking system and later unloading cargo from Israel in the northwestern Turkish port of İzmit, according to an exclusive report published Tuesday by the soL news website.
The report focuses on a mariner identified as Rıza Kaptan, whose name was changed for security reasons, and who told soL that he joined the Panama-flagged container ship Orita, owned by a Turkey-based company, in early January for what he was told would be a voyage involving Egypt’s Alexandria port, only to find on board that the vessel was instead bound for Ashdod in Israel. He said the crew was instructed to set the ship’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) to Alexandria, switch it off after passing Rhodes and never list Israeli ports among the vessel’s recent calls.
Kaptan also alleged that the ship used a second name, “UN Northstar,” in radio traffic while calling at Israeli ports, and that after unloading cargo from Russia in Ashdod and Haifa, it took on new cargo in Israel and later discharged it in Turkey’s İzmit port.
Turkey announced restrictions on 54 product groups in April 2024 and then said on May 2, 2024, that it had halted all imports from and exports to Israel, a trade relationship Ankara had valued at about $7 billion a year.
However, Turkey’s exports to the Palestinian territories jumped 526 percent in the first nine months of 2024, and opposition lawmakers had pointed to continuing ship traffic from Turkey to Israel and allegations that goods were being routed through Palestinian companies.
In August 2025 Turkish authorities expanded the measures beyond the halt in trade, saying they had closed Turkish ports to Israeli ships and barred Turkish vessels from sailing to Israeli ports.
Despite this, Israel’s imports of Azerbaijani crude from Turkey’s Ceyhan terminal rose 31 percent in 2025 to their highest level in three years. Analysts cited by Reuters said vessels carrying the oil typically switched off their trackers and signaled destinations off Egypt or Cyprus before discharging in Israel, a pattern that closely resembles the method described in soL’s new report.
The account is also notable because it places the alleged voyages during the Iran war. Joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28 and triggered Iranian retaliation across the region. Kaptan told soL that when his ship reached Ashdod during one of those voyages, missiles and intercepts were visible overhead and port workers were running for shelter, yet commercial operations continued.
soL said it also tracked Orita shutting off its signal near Rhodes from March 25 to April 6, a period of 11 days, before the ship later called again at İzmit.
UN International Trade Statistics Database figures previously showed Turkey was Israel’s fifth-largest supplier in 2024, with exports totaling $2.86 billion, despite Ankara’s public stance.
Official Israeli data later showed trade did not stop in 2025, either, with Israel importing $924.1 million in goods from Turkey that year, down from 2024 levels but still pointing to continued commercial flows despite the announced halt.
Since October 2023 UN experts, rights groups and courts have warned that Israel’s siege, bombardment and forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza meet the definition of genocide.
Gaza remains in crisis after Israel’s military campaign that followed the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, with local health authorities reporting 72,344 deaths in Gaza since that date. A ceasefire that took effect on October 10 has not ended Israel’s deadly strikes.
A UN report in October said Turkey was among the countries that enabled Israel’s genocide, citing trade data showing continued oil shipments and trans-shipments from Turkish ports to Israel through intermediaries despite the official trade suspension.