The Turkish authorities “politely asked” one of the leaders of the Palestinian group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, and his subordinates to leave the country, because they do not want Turkey to be associated with militant supporters. The publication reported this on October 22 Al Monitor, citing several informed sources.
“Ankara politely asked Haniyeh and his entourage to leave Turkey, not wanting to create the impression that they were defending Hamas after the group killed Israeli civilians,” the media indicates.
In turn, Hamas itself confirmed on October 23 that the leadership of the political wing of the Palestinian movement had left Turkey, but it made this decision on its own after Turkish intelligence services declared their inability to protect them from Israeli threats.
“Turkish intelligence met with Hamas leadership on October 7 at 10:00 and reported that Turkish authorities would not be able to ensure its security in the country from threats from Israel. After this, Hamas leaders decided to leave Turkish territory with the outbreak of war,” said “RIA News” Hamas source.
He explained that media reports that the Turkish authorities allegedly expelled Haniyeh from the country are not true, since he did this without any pressure from Ankara. It is known that Haniyeh has been in Istanbul since October 7, the day the conflict began to escalate.
Prior to this, on October 20, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Israel to stop “genocidal operations” in the Gaza Strip. The Turkish leader stressed that the security of the state cannot be ensured by killing civilians and bombing hospitals, schools, mosques and churches. At the same time, he noted that Israel’s actions are “incited by non-regional players.”
Earlier, on October 17, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced Turkey’s readiness to act as a guarantor country for Palestine if a peace agreement is reached.
On the same day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israeli General Security Service, which also represents counterintelligence interests, announced the joint destruction of the head of the Hamas shura (council) in the Gaza Strip, Osama al-Mazini. It was noted that the murdered man was responsible for Hamas prisoners and led terrorist activities against Israel
On October 16, the IDF announced the killing of several Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, as well as the liquidation of dozens of military command posts
On October 7, the Palestinian Hamas movement subjected Israeli territory to massive rocket fire, which was carried out from the Gaza Strip, and also invaded the border areas in the south of the country. On the same day, the Israeli side began to launch retaliatory strikes.
According to the latest data, 5.4 thousand people were injured by Israel, more than 1.4 thousand were killed. The number of victims in the Gaza Strip exceeded 5 thousand, and another 15 thousand residents were injured.
The Palestinians intend to return the borders between the two countries that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War, with a possible exchange of territories. Palestine wants to create its own state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and make East Jerusalem its capital. Israel refuses these terms.
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