Turkey Warns Israel About Assassinating Hamas Members in its Territory

Turkish President Recep Erdogan warned Israel Wednesday that it would pay a “heavy price” if it targets Hamas members living in Turkey in revenge for the Oct. 7 terror attack that killed more than 1200 people.

“They do not know the Turks. They don’t know us… If they commit such a mistake, they should know that they will pay a very heavy price for it,” Erdogan said to reporters as he prepared to travel to Qatar for meetings on the regional crisis. “Those who attempt such a thing should remember that the consequences can be extremely serious. There is no one in the world who does not know the progress Turkey has made in both the field of intelligence and security.”

Erdogan’s comments came days after Ankara denounced a series of leaked tapes of the head of Israel’s domestic intelligence service, the Shin Bet, vowing to hunt down Hamas’ leadership in Qatar, Lebanon, and Turkey. All three countries are home to members of Hamas’ political movement and the group’s military wing has a small presence in Lebanon as well. Hamas is considered a terror organization by the U.S., U.K, Canada, and the EU, among many others.  

“In Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Turkey, in Qatar, everyone,” Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar said in recordings aired by Israeli television Sunday. “It will take a few years, but we will be there in order to do it. The cabinet set a goal for us, to take out Hamas. And we are determined to do it, this is our Munich.”

After 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian militants at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, conducted years of operations across Europe and the Middle East targeting those it considered involved.

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Hamas has close ideological and political ties to the Turkish government going back decades. 

The possibility of a key American ally in Israel conducting assassination operations against targets in a NATO partner country, Turkey, alarms alliance officials in Brussels, according to one EU military officer assigned to NATO.

“Obviously the Israelis have a long history of conducting targeted assassinations around the world, so it’s a serious concern, particularly in light of tensions with them over the conduct of the [Gaza] military campaign,” said the official, who cannot speak openly in the media, about Israel’s resistance to a long-term ceasefire in Gaza after two months of military operations that have killed over 15,000 residents.

“The Israeli political leadership doesn’t seem inclined to take outside advice right now, so obviously there’s concerns they won’t be interested in warnings not to conduct operations,” they added.

A regional diplomat in regular contact with both Israel and Turkish diplomats said they expect an escalation but not in the short term.

“Israel conducts operations in Turkey all the time, it’s a key place to access Iranian officials and monitor a wide range of enemies,” said the diplomat, who asked for anonymity to speak freely about diplomatic affairs. “Hamas officials openly live in Turkey and Lebanon, where the Israelis will certainly target them.”

The diplomat added that it's less certain that Israel would conduct operations in Qatar itself because of its diplomatic efforts to normalise relations with wealthy Persian Gulf states.

In 2010, an Israeli assassination team killed Mahmoud al Mabhouh, a Hamas military official, in a Dubai hotel room and escaped the country before Dubai police could identify them from CCTV footage. Although no Israelis were detained, the careful documentation of the hit team’s movements around Dubai badly embarrassed Mossad and Israel was forced to apologise to the UAE.

Israel regularly conducts assassination operations in Lebanon and Syria, regularly targeting and often killing militants from Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other organisations, leaving the regional diplomat to suggest Lebanon and Syria-based Hamas officials faced the most danger.

“The Israelis can reach targets in Lebanon and Syria, they’ve done it repeatedly over the past decades and that’s where the Hamas leaders they really want to kill are located,” said the diplomat. “These leaders are much closer to the military wing in Gaza and would have been more involved in operational planning. The officials in Qatar and Turkey are softer political figures, they will be considered less urgent.”