The Turkish intelligence agency claims to have uncovered a Mossad spy ring operating in the country, leading to the detention of seven people, according to a report by the pro-government Daily Sabah.
The report states that Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT), in cooperation with the İstanbul Police Department’s counterterrorism unit, uncovered a “ghost” cell” of 56 operatives who were allegedly spying on behalf of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.
Of the total number of operatives, seven who allegedly confessed to working for Mossad have been detained, the report said. These individuals are allegedly part of a larger network overseen by nine Mossad operatives based in Tel Aviv and capable of operating internationally.
The implicated agents, who hail from various Middle Eastern countries, allegedly used various espionage tactics, including surveillance, hacking WiFi networks and tracking vehicle movements via GPS. The agents allegedly used several fake Arabic-language websites to obtain IP addresses.
According to the report, citing MİT documents, some operatives in İstanbul were dispatched by Mossad to Lebanon and Syria to gather intelligence and identify drone strike locations and premises used by Hezbollah, the Shia Islamist political party and militant group.
In December a Turkish court arrested seven out of 44 people who were detained on suspicion of spying on Palestinians in Turkey for Mossad. According to Sabah, this group collected information about Turkish and foreign students and Palestinians living in the country.