ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Israeli soccer player Sagiv Jehezkel returned to Israel to cheering crowds Monday night, hours after he was briefly detained in Turkey for allegedly inciting hatred after expressing solidarity with hostages held by the Hamas were detained in Gaza during a summit-flight league game.

Jehezkel landed in Israel in a small plane and was draped in an Israeli flag as he disembarked. Dozens of fans crowded him as he left the airport, cheering, chanting and waving flags.

“There is nothing like Israel anywhere in the world,” Jehezkel told reporters. “I’m very happy to be here and I couldn’t wait to get there.”

The Antalyaspor player was released from custody after being questioned by police and court officials, a Turkish official said. It was not immediately clear whether he was released pending trial or whether the charges against him were dropped. Court officials in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya could not immediately be reached for comment.

The player left Turkey of his own free will and there was no decision to deport him, the official said on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations.

Turkish media reports earlier said the player was released pending trial on charges of inciting hatred. The reports later moved away from this action without providing an explanation.

Jehezkel was taken into custody late Sunday for questioning after displaying a bandage on his wrist next to a Star of David that read “100 Days 7:10” – a reference to Oct. 7, the day Hamas attacked Israel and the hostages were kidnapped.

The 28-year-old, who plays for the Israeli national team, told police he was simply calling for an end to the war.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said late Sunday that Jehezkel was being investigated for “openly inciting the public to hatred and hostility.” Tunc tweeted that Jehezkel had committed “an ugly gesture in support of the Israeli massacre in Gaza.”

The gesture was seen as provocative in Turkey, where there is widespread public opposition to Israel’s military actions in Gaza and overwhelming support for the Palestinians.

Antalyaspor has suspended Jehezkel from the team and announced that it would talk to the club’s lawyers about the possibility of terminating his contract.

During his questioning by police, the player denied allegations that he had committed a provocative act, private news agency DHA reported.

“I am not for war,” the DHA quoted him as telling the police. “I want this 100-day trial to end. I want the war to end.”

Jehezkel continued: “I have never been involved in politics since I arrived. Since the day I arrived, I have never treated anyone disrespectfully. The point I wanted to draw attention to was (the need for) an end to the war.”

The Turkish Football Association condemned a gesture that “disturbed the conscience” of the Turkish public.

Jehezkel’s imprisonment, meanwhile, sparked outrage in Israel.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on the international community and sports groups to take action against Turkey and its “political use of violence and threats against athletes.”

“Anyone who arrests a football player for showing solidarity with 136 prisoners who have been with the terrorists of a murderous terrorist organization for more than 100 days represents a culture of murder and hatred,” he said.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called Jehezkel’s detention “scandalous.”

“Turkey acts as the executive arm of Hamas in its actions,” he tweeted.

In a similar incident, Istanbul’s first division club Basaksehir announced on Monday that it had opened a disciplinary investigation against its Israeli player Eden Karzev after he posted a message on social media marking the hostages’ 100 days of captivity with the hashtag “BringThemHomeNow.”

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Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg contributed to this story from Jerusalem.