Turkish police on Tuesday detained 33 people suspected of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Turkish media, without specifying the nationalities of the detainees.
The suspects were rounded up in raids across eight provinces around İstanbul, the private DHA and state-run Anadolu news agencies reported, adding that their mission included conducting abductions and carrying out reconnaissance.
Turkish security services were still looking for 13 more suspects accused of engaging espionage on Israel’s behalf, the reports said.
Relations between Turkey and Israel deteriorated sharply following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has turned into one of the world’s harshest critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he compared to Adolf Hitler last week.
Erdoğan has recalled Ankara’s ambassador to Tel Aviv and demanded that Israeli commanders and political leaders be put on trial for “war crimes” at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The Gaza war ended a gradual improvement in Turkish-Israeli relations, which were effectively frozen for most of the past decade.
Assassination plans
The detentions took place in the wake of reports about plans by Israel to assassinate Hamas members living outside Palestine.
Erdoğan warned last month that Israel would pay a “heavy price” if it attempts to assassinate members of Hamas living in Turkey.
“If it [Israel] makes such a mistake, they should know that they will pay a heavy price,” Erdoğan warned.
In early December The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel was planning to hunt down Hamas leaders around the world once it moves away from fighting the group in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has ordered spy agencies to draw up plans to assassinate the group’s top leaders outside of Gaza, the paper reported, citing Israeli officials.
Ronen Bar, the head of Israeli domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, also said in a recording broadcast on Israeli state television KAN that Israel is determined to kill Hamas leaders around the world, including in Qatar, Turkey and Lebanon, even if it takes years.
Erdoğan said Israel should keep in mind that such an attempt will have serious consequences, adding that Turkey has an effective intelligence and security network to prevent such an attempt.
Erdoğan frequently meets with Hamas members in public in Turkey and sees them as “liberators” fighting for their land rather than terrorists.
In December 2022, a Turkish court arrested seven out of 44 people who were detained on suspicion of spying on Palestinians in Turkey for Mossad. According to the pro-government Sabah newspaper, this group collected information about Turkish and foreign students and Palestinians living in the country.