ישראל's Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Amichai Chikli, warned of a growing threat from Turkey, local media report.

"A direct confrontation with the Turkish army at sea is no longer an impossible scenario; it could happen as early as tomorrow morning," he noted.

The minister accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of "fanaticism" over his criticism of the Jewish state.

He emphasized that at one point Israel had effectively saved Erdoğan's life by sending an Israeli doctor to treat his cancer.

Chikli called Erdoğan a "dictator" and "a combination of Hitler and Sinwar."