Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with a Hamas delegation led by Muhammad Ismail Darwish, head of the group’s Shura Council, at the presidential complex in Ankara on Wednesday, as diplomatic efforts continue to secure a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The meeting, which was not publicly listed on Erdoğan’s official schedule, included Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Director İbrahim Kalın, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, Erdoğan’s Chief Foreign Policy and Security Adviser Akif Çağatay Kılıç and his Chief of Staff Hasan Doğan, according to a statement from the Presidential Communications Directorate.
The visit comes as Hamas, which has yet to announce a successor to its former leader Yahya Sinwar following his reported death in an Israeli operation in October 2024, is being led by a five-member interim committee. Darwish, who heads the committee, was joined in Ankara by other senior Hamas figures, including Halil al-Hayya, Khaled Meshaal and Zaher Jabarin.
The backdrop of the meeting is a ceasefire that took effect on January 19, brokered by Qatar and the United States, following more than 15 months of war in Gaza. As part of the agreement, Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages and prisoners, with negotiations ongoing for a potential permanent truce. Turkey has also agreed to take in around 15 of the 70 Palestinian prisoners who were released by Israel but barred from returning to Gaza or the West Bank, according to regional officials.
Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 hostages taken.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, the Israeli military has killed at least 46,707 Palestinians and wounded 110,265 since October 7, 2023. The death toll means that one out of every 50 people has been killed in Gaza. Many analysts and rights groups believe the real number killed is far higher.
A report released by Amnesty International on December 5 concludes that Israel’s actions in Gaza qualify as genocide.
In November the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel must also answer to the International Court of Justice for genocide due to its war on Gaza.