diff --git a/conformance/scripts/istio/Makefile b/conformance/scripts/istio/Makefile
deleted file mode 100644
index 309d8c459..000000000
--- a/conformance/scripts/istio/Makefile
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,536 +0,0 @@
-# Version variables - can be overridden via environment or command line
-# Example: make all ISTIO_VERSION=1.28.0
-GATEWAY_API_VERSION ?= v1.3.0
-INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION ?= v0.4.0
-ISTIO_VERSION ?= 1.27-alpha.0551127f00634403cddd4634567e65a8ecc499a7
-ISTIO_HUB ?= 
-ISTIO_PROFILE ?= minimal
-
-# Conformance test variables
-IMPLEMENTATION_VERSION ?= $(ISTIO_VERSION)
-MODE ?= default
-PROFILE ?= gateway
-ORGANIZATION ?= istio
-PROJECT ?= istio
-URL ?= https://istio.io
-CONTACT ?= @istio/maintainers
-RUN_TEST ?=
-
-
-
-# Directory variables
-TEST_BASE_DIR ?= ../../..
-REPORT_BASE_DIR ?= ../../reports/$(INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION)/$(PROFILE)/$(PROJECT)
-
-# Kubernetes version (shared between kind and minikube)
-KUBERNETES_VERSION ?= v1.30.13
-
-# Internal variables (derived from KUBERNETES_VERSION)
-KIND_NODE_IMAGE ?= kindest/node:$(KUBERNETES_VERSION)
-MINIKUBE_K8S_VERSION ?= $(KUBERNETES_VERSION)
-
-# Istioctl binary variables
-ISTIOCTL_DIR ?= /tmp
-ISTIOCTL_BIN ?= $(ISTIOCTL_DIR)/istioctl-$(ISTIO_VERSION)
-
-# YAML content for readability
-define METALLB_CONFIG
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: ConfigMap
-data:
-  config: |
-    address-pools:
-    - name: default
-      protocol: layer2
-      addresses:
-      - NETWORK_PREFIX.100-NETWORK_PREFIX.200
-metadata:
-  name: config
-  namespace: metallb-system
-endef
-
-# Multi-line YAML configuration for metallb (kind)
-define METALLB_KIND_CONFIG
-apiVersion: metallb.io/v1beta1
-kind: IPAddressPool
-metadata:
-  name: example
-  namespace: metallb-system
-spec:
-  addresses:
-  - NETWORK_PREFIX.200-NETWORK_PREFIX.250
----
-apiVersion: metallb.io/v1beta1
-kind: L2Advertisement
-metadata:
-  name: empty
-  namespace: metallb-system
-endef
-
-define TLS_DESTINATION_RULES
-apiVersion: networking.istio.io/v1
-kind: DestinationRule
-metadata:
-  name: primary-endpoint-picker-tls
-  namespace: gateway-conformance-app-backend
-spec:
-  host: primary-endpoint-picker-svc
-  trafficPolicy:
-      tls:
-        mode: SIMPLE
-        insecureSkipVerify: true
----
-apiVersion: networking.istio.io/v1
-kind: DestinationRule
-metadata:
-  name: secondary-endpoint-picker-tls
-  namespace: gateway-conformance-app-backend
-spec:
-  host: secondary-endpoint-picker-svc
-  trafficPolicy:
-      tls:
-        mode: SIMPLE
-        insecureSkipVerify: true
-endef
-
-# README template for implementation conformance reports
-define README_TEMPLATE
-# $(PROJECT) ($(PROFILE) Profile Conformance) - $(INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION)
-
-## Test Results
-
-This directory contains conformance test results for Gateway API Inference Extension $(INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION) testing against $(PROJECT) implementations using the $(PROFILE) profile.
-
-| Extension Version Tested | Profile Tested | Implementation Version | Mode    | Report | Status |
-|--------------------------|----------------|------------------------|---------|--------|--------|
-| ...                      | ...            | ...                    | ...     | ...    | ...    |
-
-## Running the Tests
-
-For instructions on how to reproduce these test results and run the conformance tests yourself, see the [$(PROJECT) Conformance Testing README](../../../../scripts/$(PROJECT)/README.md).
-
-## About This Version
-
-- **Extension Version**: $(INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION)
-- **Profile**: $(PROFILE)
-- **Implementation**: $(PROJECT)
-- **Test Mode**: Default
-
-For detailed information about conformance testing, report generation, and requirements, see the [main conformance README](../../../../../README.md).
-endef
-
-.PHONY: setup-env-minikube setup-env-kind setup-env-openshift setup-minikube setup-kind setup-openshift setup-istio setup-istio-minikube setup-istio-kind setup-istio-openshift setup-gateway-api-crds setup-inference-extension-crds setup-crds setup-tls run-tests readme-update clean clean-reports help ensure-report-dir
-
-# Setup complete environment with minikube
-setup-env-minikube: setup-minikube setup-istio-minikube setup-gateway-api-crds setup-inference-extension-crds setup-tls
-
-# Setup complete environment with kind
-setup-env-kind: setup-kind setup-istio-kind setup-gateway-api-crds setup-inference-extension-crds setup-tls
-
-# Setup complete environment with OpenShift
-setup-env-openshift: setup-openshift setup-istio-openshift setup-gateway-api-crds setup-inference-extension-crds setup-tls
-
-# Show help information
-help:
-	@echo "Gateway API Inference Extension Conformance Test Setup"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "📋 QUICK SETUP - All-in-one targets"
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "  setup-env-minikube               - Setup complete environment with minikube"
-	@echo "  setup-env-kind                   - Setup complete environment with kind"
-	@echo "  setup-env-openshift              - Setup complete environment with OpenShift"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "🚀 MINIKUBE ENVIRONMENT - For local development with VMs"
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "  setup-minikube                   - Setup minikube with metallb"
-	@echo "  setup-istio-minikube             - Install Istio for minikube environment"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "🐳 KIND ENVIRONMENT - For local development with containers"
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "  setup-kind                       - Setup kind cluster with metallb"
-	@echo "  setup-istio-kind                 - Install Istio for kind environment"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "🏢 OPENSHIFT ENVIRONMENT - For enterprise deployments"
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "  setup-openshift                  - Setup OpenShift environment"
-	@echo "  setup-istio-openshift            - Install Istio for OpenShift environment"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "⚙️  COMMON SETUP - Environment-agnostic targets"
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "  setup-istio                      - Install Istio (auto-downloads istioctl)"
-	@echo "  setup-gateway-api-crds           - Install Gateway API CRDs"
-	@echo "  setup-inference-extension-crds   - Install Inference Extension CRDs"
-	@echo "  setup-crds                       - Install all CRDs"
-	@echo "  setup-tls                        - Setup TLS for EPP"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "🧪 TESTING & REPORTING - Test execution and documentation"
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "  run-tests                        - Run conformance tests"
-	@echo "  readme-update                    - Update README table with all available reports"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "🧹 CLEANUP - Resource cleanup"
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "  clean                            - Clean up resources"
-	@echo "  clean-reports                    - Clean up generated reports and README table"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "Main variables (can be overridden):"
-	@echo "  GATEWAY_API_VERSION              - Gateway API version (current: $(GATEWAY_API_VERSION))"
-	@echo "  INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION      - Inference Extension version (current: $(INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION))"
-	@echo "  KUBERNETES_VERSION               - Kubernetes version for kind/minikube (current: $(KUBERNETES_VERSION))"
-	@echo "  ISTIO_VERSION                    - Istio version (current: $(ISTIO_VERSION))"
-	@echo "  PROFILE                          - Conformance profile (current: $(PROFILE))"
-	@echo "  PROJECT                          - Project name (current: $(PROJECT))"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "📁 REPORT STRUCTURE:"
-	@echo "  Reports will be generated in: $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)/"
-	@echo "  This structure is based on: reports/[INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION]/[PROFILE]/[PROJECT]/"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "📥 Automatic istioctl Management:"
-	@echo "  • istioctl binary will be automatically downloaded based on ISTIO_VERSION"
-	@echo "  • Hub (container registry) will be auto-detected from download source:"
-	@echo "    - GitHub release → gcr.io/istio-release"
-	@echo "    - Container extraction → gcr.io/istio-testing"
-	@echo "  • Override with ISTIO_HUB if needed for custom registries"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "Conformance test variables (can be overridden):"
-	@echo "  MODE                             - Test mode (current: $(MODE))"
-	@echo "  ORGANIZATION                     - Organization name (current: $(ORGANIZATION))"
-	@echo "  URL                              - Project URL (current: $(URL))"
-	@echo "  CONTACT                          - Contact information (current: $(CONTACT))"
-	@echo "  RUN_TEST                         - Run specific test (current: $(RUN_TEST))"
-
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "Internal variables (advanced users only):"
-	@echo "  IMPLEMENTATION_VERSION           - Implementation version for report (current: $(IMPLEMENTATION_VERSION), derived from ISTIO_VERSION)"
-	@echo "  ISTIO_HUB                        - Istio container registry hub (current: $(ISTIO_HUB), auto-detected if empty)"
-	@echo "  ISTIO_PROFILE                    - Istio profile (current: $(ISTIO_PROFILE))"
-	@echo "  TEST_BASE_DIR                    - Test suite base directory (current: $(TEST_BASE_DIR))"
-	@echo "  REPORT_BASE_DIR                  - Report output directory (current: $(REPORT_BASE_DIR))"
-	@echo "  ISTIOCTL_DIR                     - Directory for istioctl binaries (current: $(ISTIOCTL_DIR))"
-	@echo "  ISTIOCTL_BIN                     - Path to versioned istioctl binary (current: $(ISTIOCTL_BIN))"
-	@echo "  KIND_NODE_IMAGE                  - Kind node image (current: $(KIND_NODE_IMAGE))"
-	@echo "  MINIKUBE_K8S_VERSION             - Minikube K8s version (current: $(MINIKUBE_K8S_VERSION))"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo "💡 USAGE EXAMPLES"
-	@echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "📋 Quick Setup Examples:"
-	@echo "  make setup-env-minikube                    - Use default versions with minikube"
-	@echo "  make setup-env-kind                        - Use default versions with kind"
-	@echo "  make setup-env-openshift                   - Use default versions with OpenShift"
-	@echo "  make setup-env-minikube ISTIO_VERSION=1.28.0 - Override Istio version"
-	@echo "  make setup-env-minikube KUBERNETES_VERSION=v1.31.9 - Override Kubernetes version"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "🚀 Minikube Examples:"
-	@echo "  make setup-minikube                        - Setup minikube cluster with metallb"
-	@echo "  make setup-istio-minikube                  - Install Istio for minikube environment"
-	@echo "  make setup-minikube KUBERNETES_VERSION=v1.31.9 - Use Kubernetes 1.31.9"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "🐳 Kind Examples:"
-	@echo "  make setup-kind                            - Setup kind cluster with metallb"
-	@echo "  make setup-istio-kind                      - Install Istio for kind environment"
-	@echo "  make setup-kind KUBERNETES_VERSION=v1.31.9 - Use Kubernetes 1.31.9"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "🏢 OpenShift Examples:"
-	@echo "  make setup-openshift                       - Setup OpenShift environment"
-	@echo "  make setup-istio-openshift                 - Install Istio for OpenShift environment"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "⚙️  Common Setup Examples:"
-	@echo "  make setup-istio ISTIO_PROFILE=openshift   - Install Istio with specific profile"
-	@echo "  make setup-istio ISTIO_HUB=docker.io/istio - Install Istio from custom registry"
-	@echo "  make setup-crds                            - Install all CRDs"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "🧪 Testing Examples:"
-	@echo "  make run-tests                             - Run conformance tests with default settings"
-	@echo "  make run-tests TEST_BASE_DIR=..            - Run tests from custom directory"
-	@echo "  make run-tests RUN_TEST=InferencePoolAccepted - Run specific test only"
-	@echo "  make run-tests PROJECT=envoy PROFILE=mesh  - Run tests for different project/profile"
-	@echo "  make readme-update                         - Update README table with all available reports"
-	@echo ""
-
-# Ensure report directory exists
-ensure-report-dir:
-	@echo "Ensuring report directory exists: $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)"
-	@mkdir -p $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)
-
-# Setup minikube with metallb
-setup-minikube:
-	@echo "Setting up minikube with metallb..."
-	@echo "Starting minikube with Kubernetes $(KUBERNETES_VERSION)..."
-	minikube start --kubernetes-version=$(MINIKUBE_K8S_VERSION)
-	minikube addons enable metallb
-	@echo "Configuring metallb address pool..."
-	$(file >/tmp/metallb-config.yaml,$(METALLB_CONFIG))
-	@MINIKUBE_IP=$$(minikube ip); \
-	NETWORK_PREFIX=$${MINIKUBE_IP%.*}; \
-	echo "Using IP range: $${NETWORK_PREFIX}.100-$${NETWORK_PREFIX}.200"; \
-	sed -i "s/NETWORK_PREFIX/$${NETWORK_PREFIX}/g" /tmp/metallb-config.yaml
-	kubectl apply -f /tmp/metallb-config.yaml
-	@rm -f /tmp/metallb-config.yaml
-
-# Setup kind with metallb
-setup-kind:
-	@echo "Setting up kind with metallb..."
-	@if ! kind get clusters | grep -q "^kind$$"; then \
-		echo "Creating kind cluster with Kubernetes $(KUBERNETES_VERSION)..."; \
-		kind create cluster --image $(KIND_NODE_IMAGE); \
-	else \
-		echo "Kind cluster already exists"; \
-	fi
-	@echo "Installing metallb..."
-	kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/metallb/metallb/v0.13.7/config/manifests/metallb-native.yaml
-	@echo "Waiting for metallb to be ready..."
-	kubectl wait --namespace metallb-system --for=condition=available deployment/controller --timeout=90s
-	kubectl wait --namespace metallb-system --for=condition=ready pod --selector=component=controller --timeout=90s
-	kubectl wait --namespace metallb-system --for=condition=ready pod --selector=component=speaker --timeout=90s
-	@echo "Configuring metallb address pool..."
-	$(file >/tmp/metallb-kind-config.yaml,$(METALLB_KIND_CONFIG))
-	@DOCKER_NETWORK=$$(docker network inspect -f '{{range .IPAM.Config}}{{.Gateway}}{{end}}' kind); \
-	NETWORK_PREFIX=$${DOCKER_NETWORK%.*}; \
-	echo "Using IP range: $${NETWORK_PREFIX}.200-$${NETWORK_PREFIX}.250"; \
-	sed -i "s/NETWORK_PREFIX/$${NETWORK_PREFIX}/g" /tmp/metallb-kind-config.yaml
-	kubectl apply -f /tmp/metallb-kind-config.yaml
-	@rm -f /tmp/metallb-kind-config.yaml
-
-# Setup OpenShift (alternative to minikube)
-setup-openshift:
-	@echo "Setting up OpenShift environment..."
-	@echo "Assuming OpenShift cluster is already running and kubectl/oc is configured"
-	@echo "Verifying cluster connection..."
-	kubectl cluster-info
-	@echo "OpenShift environment ready"
-
-# Download istioctl binary for the specific version (file target)
-$(ISTIOCTL_BIN):
-	@echo "Downloading istioctl version $(ISTIO_VERSION)..."
-	@mkdir -p $(ISTIOCTL_DIR)
-	@OS=$$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]'); \
-	ARCH=$$(uname -m); \
-	case "$$ARCH" in \
-		x86_64) ARCH=amd64 ;; \
-		aarch64) ARCH=arm64 ;; \
-		armv7l) ARCH=armv7 ;; \
-	esac; \
-	echo "Detecting OS: $$OS, Architecture: $$ARCH"; \
-	SUCCESS=false; \
-	echo "Trying GitHub releases..."; \
-	if curl -fsSL "https://github.com/istio/istio/releases/download/$(ISTIO_VERSION)/istioctl-$(ISTIO_VERSION)-$$OS-$$ARCH.tar.gz" -o /tmp/istioctl.tar.gz 2>/dev/null; then \
-		echo "Download successful, extracting..."; \
-		if tar -xzf /tmp/istioctl.tar.gz -C /tmp 2>/dev/null; then \
-			mv /tmp/istioctl $(ISTIOCTL_BIN); \
-			rm -f /tmp/istioctl.tar.gz; \
-			chmod +x $(ISTIOCTL_BIN); \
-			echo "istioctl $(ISTIO_VERSION) downloaded to $(ISTIOCTL_BIN)"; \
-			echo "github" > $(ISTIOCTL_BIN).source; \
-			SUCCESS=true; \
-		else \
-			echo "ERROR: Failed to extract istioctl archive"; \
-			rm -f /tmp/istioctl.tar.gz; \
-		fi; \
-	fi; \
-	if [ "$$SUCCESS" = "false" ]; then \
-		echo "Binary download failed, trying container-based extraction..."; \
-		CONTAINER_IMAGE="gcr.io/istio-testing/istioctl:$(ISTIO_VERSION)"; \
-		echo "Pulling container image: $$CONTAINER_IMAGE"; \
-		if docker pull "$$CONTAINER_IMAGE" 2>/dev/null; then \
-			echo "Extracting istioctl binary from container..."; \
-			TEMP_CONTAINER=$$(docker create "$$CONTAINER_IMAGE"); \
-			if docker cp "$$TEMP_CONTAINER:/usr/local/bin/istioctl" "$(ISTIOCTL_BIN)" 2>/dev/null; then \
-				docker rm "$$TEMP_CONTAINER" 2>/dev/null || true; \
-				chmod +x "$(ISTIOCTL_BIN)"; \
-				echo "istioctl $(ISTIO_VERSION) extracted from container to $(ISTIOCTL_BIN)"; \
-				echo "container" > $(ISTIOCTL_BIN).source; \
-				SUCCESS=true; \
-			else \
-				echo "ERROR: Failed to extract istioctl binary from container"; \
-				docker rm "$$TEMP_CONTAINER" 2>/dev/null || true; \
-			fi; \
-		else \
-			echo "ERROR: Failed to pull container image $$CONTAINER_IMAGE"; \
-		fi; \
-	fi; \
-	if [ "$$SUCCESS" = "false" ]; then \
-		echo "ERROR: All download methods failed for istioctl $(ISTIO_VERSION)"; \
-		echo "Tried: 1) GitHub releases, 2) Container extraction"; \
-		echo "Please check if the version exists or install istioctl manually"; \
-		exit 1; \
-	fi
-	@$(ISTIOCTL_BIN) version --remote=false
-
-# Generate README file for implementation conformance reports (file target)
-$(REPORT_BASE_DIR)/README.md: Makefile | ensure-report-dir
-	@echo "Generating README for $(PROJECT) conformance reports..."
-	@echo "Report directory: $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)"
-	$(file >/tmp/readme-template.md,$(README_TEMPLATE))
-	@sed -e 's/$$(PROJECT)/$(PROJECT)/g' \
-		-e 's/$$(PROFILE)/$(PROFILE)/g' \
-		-e 's/$$(INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION)/$(INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION)/g' \
-		/tmp/readme-template.md > $@
-	@rm -f /tmp/readme-template.md
-	@echo "README generated at: $@"
-
-# Install Istio (generic target using ISTIO_PROFILE variable)
-setup-istio: $(ISTIOCTL_BIN)
-	@echo "Installing Istio version $(ISTIO_VERSION) with profile $(ISTIO_PROFILE)..."
-	@if [ -n "$(ISTIO_HUB)" ]; then \
-		HUB="$(ISTIO_HUB)"; \
-		echo "Using specified hub: $$HUB"; \
-	elif [ -f "$(ISTIOCTL_BIN).source" ]; then \
-		SOURCE=$$(cat $(ISTIOCTL_BIN).source); \
-		if [ "$$SOURCE" = "github" ]; then \
-			HUB="gcr.io/istio-release"; \
-			echo "Using hub for GitHub release: $$HUB"; \
-		elif [ "$$SOURCE" = "container" ]; then \
-			HUB="gcr.io/istio-testing"; \
-			echo "Using hub for container image: $$HUB"; \
-		else \
-			HUB="gcr.io/istio-testing"; \
-			echo "Unknown source, defaulting to testing hub: $$HUB"; \
-		fi; \
-	else \
-		HUB="gcr.io/istio-release"; \
-		echo "WARNING: Could not detect istioctl source, defaulting to release hub: $$HUB"; \
-		echo "If this is incorrect, specify ISTIO_HUB manually"; \
-	fi; \
-	echo "Installing Istio from $$HUB..."; \
-	$(ISTIOCTL_BIN) install -y --set profile=$(ISTIO_PROFILE) --set values.global.hub=$$HUB --set values.global.tag=$(ISTIO_VERSION) --set values.pilot.env.SUPPORT_GATEWAY_API_INFERENCE_EXTENSION=true --set values.pilot.env.ENABLE_GATEWAY_API_INFERENCE_EXTENSION=true
-
-# Install Istio for minikube environment
-setup-istio-minikube:
-	$(MAKE) setup-istio ISTIO_PROFILE=minimal
-
-# Install Istio for kind environment
-setup-istio-kind:
-	$(MAKE) setup-istio ISTIO_PROFILE=minimal
-
-# Install Istio for OpenShift environment
-setup-istio-openshift:
-	$(MAKE) setup-istio ISTIO_PROFILE=openshift
-
-# Apply Gateway API CRDs
-setup-gateway-api-crds:
-	@echo "Applying Gateway API CRDs version $(GATEWAY_API_VERSION)..."
-	kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/releases/download/$(GATEWAY_API_VERSION)/standard-install.yaml
-
-# Apply Inference Extension CRDs
-setup-inference-extension-crds:
-	@echo "Applying Inference Extension CRDs version $(INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION)..."
-	kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api-inference-extension/refs/tags/$(INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION)/config/crd/bases/inference.networking.x-k8s.io_inferencepools.yaml
-	kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api-inference-extension/refs/tags/$(INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION)/config/crd/bases/inference.networking.x-k8s.io_inferenceobjectives.yaml
-
-# Apply all CRDs (convenience target)
-setup-crds: setup-gateway-api-crds setup-inference-extension-crds
-
-# Setup TLS for EPP
-setup-tls:
-	@echo "Setting up TLS for EPP..."
-	-kubectl create namespace gateway-conformance-app-backend || true
-	$(file >/tmp/tls-destination-rules.yaml,$(TLS_DESTINATION_RULES))
-	kubectl apply -f /tmp/tls-destination-rules.yaml
-	@rm -f /tmp/tls-destination-rules.yaml
-
-# Run conformance tests
-run-tests: ensure-report-dir
-	@echo "Running conformance tests..."
-	@echo "Test base directory: $(TEST_BASE_DIR)"
-	@echo "Report will be saved as: $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)/$(IMPLEMENTATION_VERSION)-$(MODE)-$(PROFILE)-report.yaml"
-	@if [ -n "$(RUN_TEST)" ]; then \
-		echo "Running specific test: $(RUN_TEST)"; \
-	else \
-		echo "Running all conformance tests"; \
-	fi
-	cd $(TEST_BASE_DIR) && go test ./conformance -args -gateway-class istio \
-		-cleanup-base-resources=false \
-		-report-output=$(shell pwd)/$(REPORT_BASE_DIR)/$(IMPLEMENTATION_VERSION)-$(MODE)-$(PROFILE)-report.yaml \
-		-organization="$(ORGANIZATION)" \
-		-project="$(PROJECT)" \
-		-url="$(URL)" \
-		-contact="$(CONTACT)" \
-		-version="$(IMPLEMENTATION_VERSION)" \
-		-mode="$(MODE)" \
-		-run-test="$(RUN_TEST)"
-	@echo ""
-	@echo "Test completed! Report saved to: $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)/$(IMPLEMENTATION_VERSION)-$(MODE)-$(PROFILE)-report.yaml"
-	@echo "To update the README table, run:"
-	@echo "  make readme-update"
-
-# Update README table with all available reports
-readme-update: $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)/README.md
-	@echo "Updating README table with reports for $(PROJECT)..."
-	@echo "Scanning for conformance reports in $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)..."
-	@cd $(REPORT_BASE_DIR) && REPORTS=$$(find . -name "*-*-*-report.yaml" -type f 2>/dev/null | sort || echo ""); \
-	if [ -z "$$REPORTS" ]; then \
-		echo "No conformance reports found. Run 'make run-tests' to generate reports first."; \
-		exit 1; \
-	fi; \
-	echo "Found reports: $$REPORTS"; \
-	echo "Building table entries from YAML content..."; \
-	TABLE_ENTRIES=""; \
-	for report in $$REPORTS; do \
-		echo "Processing $$report..."; \
-		if [ ! -f "$$report" ]; then \
-			echo "Warning: Report file $$report not found, skipping"; \
-			continue; \
-		fi; \
-		GATEWAY_API_VERSION=$$(grep '^gatewayAPIVersion:' "$$report" | sed 's/gatewayAPIVersion: *//'); \
-		IMPL_VERSION=$$(grep '^  version:' "$$report" | sed 's/  version: *//'); \
-		MODE=$$(grep '^mode:' "$$report" | sed 's/mode: *//'); \
-		PROFILE_NAME=$$(grep '^  name:' "$$report" | sed 's/  name: *//'); \
-		DATE=$$(grep '^date:' "$$report" | sed 's/date: *"//' | sed 's/".*//'); \
-		PASSED=$$(grep '^      Passed:' "$$report" | sed 's/      Passed: *//'); \
-		FAILED=$$(grep '^      Failed:' "$$report" | sed 's/      Failed: *//'); \
-		SKIPPED=$$(grep '^      Skipped:' "$$report" | sed 's/      Skipped: *//'); \
-		RESULT=$$(grep '^    result:' "$$report" | sed 's/    result: *//'); \
-		if [ -z "$$GATEWAY_API_VERSION" ]; then GATEWAY_API_VERSION="$(GATEWAY_API_VERSION)"; fi; \
-		if [ -z "$$IMPL_VERSION" ]; then IMPL_VERSION="unknown"; fi; \
-		if [ -z "$$MODE" ]; then MODE="default"; fi; \
-		if [ -z "$$PROFILE_NAME" ]; then PROFILE_NAME="Gateway"; fi; \
-		if [ -z "$$DATE" ]; then DATE="unknown"; fi; \
-		if [ -z "$$PASSED" ]; then PASSED="0"; fi; \
-		if [ -z "$$FAILED" ]; then FAILED="0"; fi; \
-		if [ -z "$$SKIPPED" ]; then SKIPPED="0"; fi; \
-		if [ -z "$$RESULT" ]; then RESULT="unknown"; fi; \
-		STATUS="NOT"; \
-		if [ "$$RESULT" = "success" ]; then \
-			STATUS="PASS"; \
-		fi; \
-		TABLE_ENTRY="| $$GATEWAY_API_VERSION | $$PROFILE_NAME | $$IMPL_VERSION | $$MODE | [$$report](./$$report) | $$STATUS |"; \
-		if [ -z "$$TABLE_ENTRIES" ]; then \
-			TABLE_ENTRIES="$$TABLE_ENTRY"; \
-		else \
-			TABLE_ENTRIES="$$TABLE_ENTRIES\n$$TABLE_ENTRY"; \
-		fi; \
-	done; \
-	cd $(shell pwd) && echo "Updating README.md..."; \
-	sed -i '/^|--------------------------|----------------|------------------------|---------|--------|--------|$$/,/^## Running the Tests$$/{//!d;}' $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)/README.md; \
-	sed -i '/^|--------------------------|----------------|------------------------|---------|--------|--------|$$/a\'"$$TABLE_ENTRIES" $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)/README.md; \
-	sed -i '/^| \.\.\. .*| \.\.\. .*| \.\.\. .*| \.\.\. .*| \.\.\. .*| \.\.\. .*|$$/d' $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)/README.md; \
-	echo "README table updated successfully!"
-
-# Clean up resources
-clean:
-	@echo "Cleaning up..."
-	kubectl delete namespace gateway-conformance-app-backend --ignore-not-found=true
-	@echo "Cleaning up downloaded istioctl binaries..."
-	@rm -f $(ISTIOCTL_DIR)/istioctl-*
-	@echo "Note: If using minikube, run 'minikube delete' to completely clean up"
-	@echo "Note: If using kind, run 'kind delete cluster' to completely clean up"
-	@echo "Note: If using OpenShift, additional cleanup may be needed depending on your cluster setup"
-	@echo "Note: Run 'make clean-reports' to clean up generated reports and README table"
-
-# Clean up generated conformance reports
-clean-reports:
-	@echo "Cleaning reports from: $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)"
-	rm -f $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)/*-*-*-report.yaml
-	@echo "Cleaning up README..."
-	rm -f $(REPORT_BASE_DIR)/README.md
-	@echo "Conformance reports and README for $(PROJECT) cleaned up"
-	@echo "Note: Run 'make readme-update' to regenerate the README with current $(REPORT_BASE_DIR) reports"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/conformance/scripts/istio/README.md b/conformance/scripts/istio/README.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 16f6b63d9..000000000
--- a/conformance/scripts/istio/README.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,189 +0,0 @@
-# Istio Conformance Testing
-
-This directory contains the Makefile and scripts for running Gateway API Inference Extension conformance tests against Istio implementations.
-
-## Quick Start
-
-To reproduce the test environment and run the conformance tests, choose **one** of these deployment environments:
-
-### Option A: Minikube Environment
-
-```bash
-# Set up the complete environment (minikube, istio, CRDs, TLS)
-make setup-env-minikube
-
-# Run conformance tests
-make run-tests
-
-# Clean up resources when done
-make clean
-```
-
-### Option B: Kind Environment
-
-```bash
-# Set up the complete environment (kind, istio, CRDs, TLS)
-make setup-env-kind
-
-# Run conformance tests
-make run-tests
-
-# Clean up resources when done
-make clean
-```
-
-### Option C: OpenShift Environment
-
-```bash
-# Set up the complete environment (openshift, istio, CRDs, TLS)
-make setup-env-openshift
-
-# Run conformance tests
-make run-tests
-
-# Clean up resources when done
-make clean
-```
-
-## Individual Setup Steps
-
-If you prefer to run individual setup steps:
-
-```bash
-# Choose ONE of these deployment environments:
-make setup-minikube     # Option A: Set up minikube with metallb
-# OR
-make setup-kind         # Option B: Set up kind cluster with metallb
-# OR
-make setup-openshift    # Option C: Set up OpenShift environment
-
-# Use specific Kubernetes version (works for both kind and minikube):
-make setup-minikube KUBERNETES_VERSION=v1.31.9
-make setup-kind KUBERNETES_VERSION=v1.31.9
-
-# Then continue with common setup steps:
-make setup-istio                        # Install Istio (automatically detects hub)
-# OR use environment-specific targets:
-make setup-istio-minikube               # Install Istio for minikube environment
-make setup-istio-kind                   # Install Istio for kind environment
-make setup-istio-openshift              # Install Istio for OpenShift environment
-
-make setup-gateway-api-crds             # Apply Gateway API CRDs
-make setup-inference-extension-crds     # Apply Inference Extension CRDs
-# OR
-make setup-crds                         # Apply all CRDs (convenience target)
-make setup-tls                          # Set up TLS for EPP
-```
-
-## CRD Setup Options
-
-The CRD setup is split into two targets for flexibility:
-
-- `make setup-gateway-api-crds` - Install only Gateway API CRDs (if you have a base Gateway API environment)
-- `make setup-inference-extension-crds` - Install only Inference Extension CRDs (if Gateway API is already installed)
-- `make setup-crds` - Install both (convenience target for full setup)
-
-Different environments might require different combinations depending on what's already installed.
-
-## Version Configuration
-
-The Makefile uses configurable version variables that can be overridden:
-
-```bash
-# Use default versions
-make setup-env-minikube
-
-# Override specific versions
-make setup-env-minikube ISTIO_VERSION=1.28.0
-make setup-env-kind GATEWAY_API_VERSION=v1.4.0 INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION=v0.5.0
-make setup-env-openshift GATEWAY_API_VERSION=v1.4.0 INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION=v0.5.0
-
-# Use specific Kubernetes version (works for both kind and minikube)
-make setup-env-minikube KUBERNETES_VERSION=v1.31.9
-make setup-env-kind KUBERNETES_VERSION=v1.31.9
-
-# Combine version overrides
-make setup-env-minikube KUBERNETES_VERSION=v1.31.9 ISTIO_VERSION=1.28.0
-
-# Use environment-specific Istio installation
-make setup-istio-minikube                  # Install Istio for minikube environment
-make setup-istio-kind                      # Install Istio for kind environment
-make setup-istio-openshift                 # Install Istio for OpenShift environment
-
-# Run conformance tests
-make run-tests                             # Run all conformance tests
-make run-tests RUN_TEST=InferencePoolAccepted  # Run specific test only
-
-# See all available options
-make help
-```
-
-## Report Generation
-
-Reports are automatically generated in the appropriate directory structure based on the variables you use:
-
-```bash
-# Default: reports in ../../reports/v0.4.0/gateway/istio/
-make run-tests
-
-# Custom: reports in ../../reports/v0.5.0/mesh/envoy/
-make run-tests PROJECT=envoy PROFILE=mesh INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION=v0.5.0
-```
-
-The report structure follows: `reports/[INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION]/[PROFILE]/[PROJECT]/`
-
-## Available Variables
-
-### Main Variables:
-- `GATEWAY_API_VERSION` - Gateway API version (default: v1.3.0)
-- `INFERENCE_EXTENSION_VERSION` - Inference Extension version (default: v0.4.0)  
-- `KUBERNETES_VERSION` - Kubernetes version for kind/minikube (default: v1.30.13)
-- `ISTIO_VERSION` - Istio version (default: 1.27-alpha.0551127f00634403cddd4634567e65a8ecc499a7)
-
-### Conformance Test Variables:
-- `MODE` - Test mode (default: default)
-- `PROFILE` - Conformance profile (default: gateway)
-- `ORGANIZATION` - Organization name (default: istio)
-- `PROJECT` - Project name (default: istio)
-- `URL` - Project URL (default: https://istio.io)
-- `CONTACT` - Contact information (default: @istio/maintainers)
-- `RUN_TEST` - Run specific test (default: empty, runs all tests)
-
-### Advanced Variables:
-For advanced users who need to customize internal behavior, additional variables are available including `ISTIO_HUB`, `ISTIO_PROFILE`, `TEST_BASE_DIR`, `REPORT_BASE_DIR`, and others. See `make help` for a complete list.
-
-## Prerequisites
-
-- Docker (for kind or container-based istioctl)
-- OR minikube + virtualization driver
-- OR OpenShift cluster access
-- kubectl configured for your cluster
-- Go (for running conformance tests)
-
-## Troubleshooting
-
-### Common Issues
-
-1. **istioctl download fails**: The Makefile tries GitHub releases first, then container extraction. If both fail, manually install istioctl and set `ISTIOCTL_BIN` to point to it.
-
-2. **Kubernetes version mismatch**: Ensure your `KUBERNETES_VERSION` is compatible with your chosen Istio version.
-
-3. **Container registry issues**: If using a private registry, set `ISTIO_HUB` to your registry location.
-
-4. **Network issues with metallb**: For kind/minikube, metallb configuration is automatically handled, but may require network adjustments in some environments.
-
-### Getting Help
-
-```bash
-# See all available commands and variables
-make help
-
-# Check current variable values
-make help | grep "current:"
-```
-
-## Directory Structure
-
-> **Note**: This Makefile expects to be run from within the `conformance/scripts/istio/` directory in the `gateway-api-inference-extension` repository. The test suite is located at the repository root (`../../..`), while conformance reports are generated in the reports directory (`../../reports/`).
-
-For detailed information about conformance testing, report generation, and requirements, see the [conformance README](../../reports/README.md). 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hack/verify-manifests.sh b/hack/verify-manifests.sh
index 70d819bc8..789b75e54 100755
--- a/hack/verify-manifests.sh
+++ b/hack/verify-manifests.sh
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ set -o pipefail
 SCRIPT_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/..
 GATEWAY_API_VERSION="${GATEWAY_API_VERSION:-v1.3.0}"
 GKE_GATEWAY_API_VERSION="${GKE_GATEWAY_API_VERSION:-v1.4.0}"
-ISTIO_VERSION="${ISTIO_VERSION:-1.26.2}"
 TEMP_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
 
 cleanup() {
@@ -42,7 +41,6 @@ main() {
   fetch_crds "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/refs/tags/${GATEWAY_API_VERSION}/config/crd/standard/gateway.networking.k8s.io_httproutes.yaml"
   fetch_crds "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/gke-gateway-api/refs/tags/${GKE_GATEWAY_API_VERSION}/config/crd/networking.gke.io_gcpbackendpolicies.yaml"
   fetch_crds "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/gke-gateway-api/refs/tags/${GKE_GATEWAY_API_VERSION}/config/crd/networking.gke.io_healthcheckpolicies.yaml"
-  fetch_crds "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/istio/istio/refs/tags/${ISTIO_VERSION}/manifests/charts/base/files/crd-all.gen.yaml"
 
   make kubectl-validate