Erdoğan says ‘more than 1,000 Hamas members’ hospitalized in Turkey

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday that “more than 1,000 members” of Palestinian militant group Hamas were being treated in Turkish hospitals amid the ongoing war in Gaza, Agence France-Presse reported.

Erdoğan, a vocal critic of Israel’s war in the Palestinian territory following Hamas’s attacks on October 7, made the announcement to reporters, adding that he considered Hamas “a resistance organization.”

“So many Hamas members have been killed. The whole of the West is attacking them with all sorts of arms and munitions,” he said.

“Calling Hamas … a terrorist organization would be cruel,” he said, adding that Greece and Turkey disagreed on this “very important” question.

Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, among others.

The October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the death of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Militants also seized some 250 hostages, scores of whom were freed during a week-long truce in November.

Israel’s bombardment and offensive in Gaza have killed over 35,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

Meanwhile, a Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to Reuters, later said that Erdoğan had meant to refer to Palestinians from Hamas-run Gaza in general, rather than Hamas members who were being treated in Turkey.