An Israeli newspaper report confirmed on Monday that Turkey has imposed restrictions on the leadership of the Palestinian Hamas movement on its territory and has begun restricting their movements, indicating that this happened after a recent rapprochement with Israel and an exchange of ambassadors. between the two countries.
A report prepared by the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz stated that “despite Turkey’s failure to respond to Israel’s old demand to expel all Hamas members from its territory, Turkish intelligence has begun to restrict the movement of Hamas leaders.”
The report stated that “Turkey’s actions have affected, in particular, Saleh al-Aruri, the deputy head of the Hamas political bureau,” whom Israel accuses of being involved in financing military operations in the West Bank.
And pointed out that “Turkey is currently working to limit the efforts of Hamas leaders to establish stability in its territory,” indicating that Turkish security services are working to limit the freedom of action enjoyed by the movement’s activists on Turkish territory.
The report added: “This policy makes it difficult for Hamas in its attempts to blow up the situation in the West Bank from a distance,” according to its assessment.
And last October, a senior Israeli security official said, “Turkey has shown a positive attitude towards Israel’s demands that Ankara host a number of Hamas leaders,” Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported.
The Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post also quoted another Israeli official as saying, “Israel will continue to pressure Ankara to remove Hamas, which continues to support, plan and fund attacks against Israel from Turkish territory.”
Notably, Turkish-Israeli relations have seen an improvement over the past year after years of tension and began with visits and mutual contacts between high-ranking officials, and led to the return of ambassadors and an increase in the pace of security cooperation.
