On January 10, Hamas spokesman Hazem Kassem issued a statement denying reports in the Israeli press that Turkey is restricting the movements of the Hamas leadership as part of its re-alignment with Israel.
The publications are lies and part of the incitement of the Zionist media machine against the movement and its leadership, Hamas has good relations with Turkey and aims to develop and promote them with it and with all Arab countries, the statement said.
It seems that the good relations between Hamas and Turkey are indeed maintained, the leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh and other senior members of the movement have moved to live permanently in Turkey with their families and besides engaging in terrorism they have also become businessmen.
The branch of the military wing of Hamas continues to operate unhindered in Istanbul, with the approval of Turkish intelligence, despite Israel’s protests.
Senior security officials reveal details about some of the activities of this branch in the field of intelligence beyond its terrorist activity in Judea and Samaria.
According to security sources, the Hamas branch in Istanbul collects intelligence on Israel for Iran in exchange for large sums of money.
In the branch offices in Istanbul, there is a special listening room where Hamas terrorists who have been released from Israeli prisons and speak fluent Hebrew and members of the Hamas cyber unit who monitor the communication networks and phone calls of the IDF, social networks and computer communications and collect intelligence information and pass it on to Iranian intelligence.
Hamas operatives are also engaged in additional intelligence missions:
Monitoring Jews of Iranian origin living in Israel, monitoring their social networks, obtaining information about their political affiliation, including residential addresses and phone numbers.
This information is passed on to Iranian intelligence, which is trying to recruit them into its ranks.
In January of last year, the Shin Bet announced that it exposed an Iranian spy network that tried to recruit through the Facebook network 5 Israeli citizens of Iranian origin, 4 women and a man who maintained continuous relations with an Iranian intelligence agency until their activities were stopped by the Shin Bet, against all of whom indictments were filed.
Gathering intelligence in Africa about the Mossad’s activities Israel training foreign armies in Africa in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, the Ivory Coast and South Africa.
Iranian intelligence is trying to recruit Israeli citizens working in Africa.
Intelligence gathering activity on the PA leadership in Ramallah and its security coordination with Israel against Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, which is very close to Iran, and the transfer of this information to Iranian intelligence.
Security officials in Israel say that the Turkish intelligence led by Hakan Fidan is a professional and excellent organization and has accurate information about everything that happens in the offices of the Hamas branch in Istanbul, however, the instructions are political and as long as President Erdogan gives backing to the leadership of Hamas and hosts it in Turkish territory and even grants Turkish citizenship to some of its operatives Nothing can be done, Israel has also committed to Turkey not to act against Hamas operatives on Turkish soil even though they engage in terrorist activities against it.
The terrorist activity and intelligence gathering of the Hamas branch in Istanbul continues unhindered, and despite this, the Bennett and Lapid government renewed ties with Turkey after a crisis in relations that lasted several years.
We will now wait to see how the Netanyahu government will behave towards Turkey and whether it too will put up with the continuation of the terrorist activities of the military wing of Hamas from Istanbul.
