Hamas planned to establish a secret base in Turkey and other terror cells elsewhere to co-ordinate attacks against Israeli targets in neighbouring countries, including Nato members, according to files captured by the Israeli army in Gaza and seen by The Times.
The printed document titled “Founding a base in Turkey” was discovered in the home of Hamza Abu Shanab, chief of staff to Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, the Israelis claim. It describes efforts by Israel to clamp down on the Gaza Strip over the past decade that had put Hamas on the defensive.
As a result, according to the plan’s unnamed author, “there is no choice but to act with a major effort to establish military hubs which will be the base for special operations that can strengthen the forces of resistance militarily, diplomatically and morally. Therefore we suggest to establish a security branch abroad which will be capable of carrying out intelligence and military operations in the future.”
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The document sets out a three-year plan with the aim of “setting up many military cells and safe houses in many countries”, followed by “training the military cells and … practical planning of sabotage and assassination”. Targets for assassination mentioned are “officers and commanders in Mossad” — Israel’s external intelligence agency — and “influential Israelis”. It also mentions “sabotage of Israeli naval vessels” and “kidnapping”.
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The plan includes details on the funding and personnel to be sent to set up the base in Turkey. It is unclear whether the plan was enacted before Hamas launched its attack on October 7, of which Sinwar is viewed as the main instigator, or if cells have been established in Turkey.
The October 7 attacks that started the war in Gaza killed about 1,200 people, with more than 200 taken hostage. The Turkish government has been vocal in its support of Hamas, calling it a “liberation group” and lambasting Israel amid claims that more than 35,000 Palestinians have died in the military campaign.
President Erdogan of Turkey said on Sunday that Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, “has reached a level that would make Hitler jealous with his genocidal methods”.
On Sunday, Erdogan said that more than 1,000 members of Hamas were being treated in hospitals across Turkey and reiterated his stance that Hamas was a “resistance movement”.
At a press conference after talks in Ankara with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister, Erdogan said he was saddened by Greece’s stance that proscribes Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
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“Let’s agree to disagree,” Mitsotakis said, before adding the two leaders could agree that violence must end and a long-term ceasefire is needed.
Last month, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political leader who lives in exile abroad, openly met Erdogan in Istanbul. Despite such meetings and allowing the Palestinian group to maintain offices in Istanbul, Erdogan has insisted that Hamas was not carrying out terrorist operations from or within Turkey. As a Nato member, intelligence sources believe that he is strongly against Turkey becoming a base for Hamas’s militancy, despite his public shows of support for its political leaders.
When in 2020 The Times disclosed that Turkey had become a base for Hamas’s cyberwarfare operations, the Turkish authorities warned it to stop these activities. More recently, the line between Hamas’s political and military wings has blurred. Zaher Jabarin, who handles Hamas funding outside Gaza, is based in Istanbul.
Ibrahim Kalin, Turkey’s intelligence chief, met Hamas leaders in Qatar on Sunday to discuss ceasefire talks and getting humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Erdogan told Muslim scholars in Istanbul that Hamas had accepted a ceasefire proposal by Qatar and Egypt. He accused Netanyahu’s government of not wanting the war to end.
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“The response of the Netanyahu government was to attack the innocent people in Rafah,” he said. “It has become clear who sides with peace and dialogue, and who wants clashes continuing and more bloodshed. And did Netanyahu see any serious reaction for his spoilt behaviour? No. Neither Europe nor America showed a reaction that would force Israel into a ceasefire.”
Residents of Rafah received further evacuation orders from the Israeli military via phone calls and text messages, prompting yet more people to leave their homes. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said nearly 360,000 people have left so far, ahead of a threatened ground invasion.
Erdogan on Sunday called on countries not recognising a Palestinian sovereign state to do so and accused western countries “who lecture us on human rights and freedoms at every opportunity” of hypocrisy.
This month he issued orders to end all trade between Turkey and Israel. Israeli trade officials, however, reported that this was an empty order and that trade was continuing.
