The report claimed that the suspects, all Arabs, were divided into five cells of three people each and were all arrested during a covert operation on October 7. Turkish newspaper Sabah said it was able to obtain the names and photographs of the suspected spies. also.
One of the five cells was in contact and met with officers in charge of the Mossad case and provided information and documents important to Israel. Information on Turkish and foreign students in Turkey was provided to the Mossad in exchange for payment, according to Sabah.
Turkish newspaper TRT Haber reported that Palestinian and Syrian students were being targeted by cells, with an emphasis on students receiving training in the defense industry, as well as information on associations and organizations. organizations. The TRT report included a video of the arrests.
– TRT Haber Canl (@trthabercanli) 21 October 2021
One of the main spies, identified as AB by the report, is said to have gathered information about the type of facilities Turkey is providing to Palestinians opposing Israel in the country. AB entered Turkey in late 2015 and was reported as a missing person in June this year, according to the report. The missing report was intended to distract from the cell, which was already under surveillance at the time, Sabah said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) and Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh shake hands during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, January 3, 2012 (Credit: STRINGER / REUTERS)
Two other suspects, identified as RAA and MAS, were also missing.
The report comes just weeks after Hamas-affiliated Shehab News reported that seven Palestinians who had been reported missing in Turkey were arrested for spying on “Palestinian national figures” in Turkey on behalf of the General Intelligence Service. the Palestinian Authority and the Mossad. The report claimed that Turkish intelligence caught the spies.
The Middle East Eye news site reported on Thursday that it was able to confirm that the 15 suspects had been arrested on charges of “spying and working for the Mossad to gather information on Palestinian citizens living in Turkey.”
MEE added that six Palestinians missing in Turkey since September were among the suspects. One of the brothers of one of the suspects told MEE the information about the espionage was false and the whole situation was a misunderstanding.
Last month, Palestinian media reported that a number of Palestinians had disappeared in Turkey. Earlier this month, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry announced that the fate of some of the missing Palestinians had been identified, after Turkish authorities contacted their families.
The Palestinians were recruited with offers of payment and threats to obstruct the renewal of their passports, according to Shehab, as Turkish security services discovered that sums of money from GIS were being sent to Palestinians who were “on the move. suspiciously and intensely. , especially after Operation Guardian of the Walls in May.
The aim of the SIG spies was to prepare for assassination operations against Palestinian figures in Turkey, according to Shehab. The report claimed that Israel was reluctant to conduct operations in Turkey itself due to fears of a reaction from Turkish President Erdogan.
The Shehab report further claimed that Omar al-Nayef, who died at the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria in 2016, was killed during an operation led by Faraj for Israel.
