Three Turkish citizens charged with arms smuggling, entering Israel illegally

State prosecutors filed charges Sunday against three Turkish citizens accused of smuggling guns into Israel and entering the country illegally. One of the defendants, Oktay Asci, was also charged with providing the means to commit a terrorist act.

The three were part of a larger arms trafficking network run by a Turkish national residing outside of the country, who in 2023 helped smuggle Asci into Israel to work in construction, prosecutors said.

Members of the network purchased firearms from an Iranian arms dealer and smuggled them into Jordan, from where they were then spirited into Israel by workers entering the country, apparently in an effort to arm terrorists within Israel and the West Bank.

The Shin Bet has warned in the past that Iran, particularly over the course of the recent war with Hamas, has been engaged in an ongoing effort to undermine Israeli security by smuggling guns into the country, with the aim of arming terror cells.

According to the charges filed, Asci had joined the arms trafficking ring before he was deported in July 2025, after spending some two and a half years in the country. He recruited the other two defendants, Younes Ozel and Rahman Gokyer, earlier this year.

Following his deportation, Asci tried in September to return alongside the second defendant, Gokyer, in order to partake in the gun-trafficking ring from within the country.

Both Asci and Gokyer were to receive and then sell the guns within Israel, both were promised $1 million as compensation from the Turkish ringleader. The pair tried to hop the security fence with Jordan near Kibbutz Shaar Hagolan near the Golan Heights, but were nabbed by IDF forces.

They had initially planned to bring three handguns with them into the country, but came empty-handed after a dispute between the arms dealers, the prosecution said.

Ozel was also staying illegally in Israel as a construction worker, and was enlisted by Asci as a middleman. He went to the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station twice to carry out arms deals. He was to collect money from a shop at the station, then exchange it with an unknown person in return for the weapons.

The dealer failed to arrive on both occasions. Ozel pocketed the NIS 5,000 ($1,500) for himself. He was arrested separately from the other two, also in September this year, police said.

The three were interrogated by investigators in the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit as part of a joint investigation conducted by the police, Shin Bet and IDF.

The three were indicted Sunday at the Nazareth District Court, and prosecutors requested they remain in custody until the end of legal proceedings.

Weapons smuggling has posed a challenge to Israeli authorities, particularly along the border with Jordan, much of which lacks significant fencing compared to the more heavily-guarded borders with Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.

Earlier in October, the Shin Bet announced it had foiled an Iranian-linked attempt to smuggle a large quantity of weapons to West Bank terror operatives. After arresting and interrogating an arms dealer in Ramallah, they were able to connect the plot to units in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ special forces.