ANKARA: Turkey on Tuesday blasted as “incompatible with reality” accusations by Israel it had helped the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to gain in military strength, following the arrest and deportation of a Turkish citizen.
According to the Israeli authorities, Turkish national Cemil Tekeli was arrested in January on suspicion of aiding Hamas through business platforms that launder funds and later deported.
The Shin Bet intelligence agency said the investigation into Tekeli had shown that Turkey contributes to the military strengthening of Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.
But the Turkish foreign ministry said it rejected the allegations, describing the claim as “incompatible with reality and lacking in seriousness.”
Alluding to the Israeli investigation into Tekeli, it said that Israel made the claims based on “statements obtained from our detained citizen under ambiguous circumstances.”
It added: “It is out of the question for Turkey to permit an activity on its soil that can jeopardize the security of another country.”
Shin Bet said that Hamas had laundered millions of dollars through Turkey.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, which said that Tekeli was a lecturer at Medeniyet University in Istanbul, reported he had now returned to Turkey after being freed by Israel on February 11.
Shin Bet said his alleged accomplice, Dharam Jabarin, an Arab Israeli, had also been arrested and is to be put on trial.
Turkey and Israel in 2016 ended a rift triggered by Israel’s deadly storming in 2010 of a Gaza-bound ship. But relations remain tense with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan still bitterly critical of Israeli policy.
Turkey delivers humanitarian aid to Gaza and this month bitterly denounced a US decision to put the head of Hamas Ismail Haniya on its terror blacklist.
Turkey rejects Israel claim of military help for Hamas
Turkey rejects Israel claim of military help for Hamas
Palestinian technocrats who will run Gaza hold their first meeting in Cairo
- Committee made up of 15 technocrats charged with administering everyday life in the Palestinian territory
CAIRO: The Palestinian committee that will govern postwar Gaza held its first meeting in Cairo on Friday.
Formed on Wednesday as the second phase of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal came into effect, the committee is made up of 15 technocrats charged with administering everyday life in the Palestinian territory.
The meeting followed US President Donald Trump’s declaration of the formation of a Gaza “board of peace,” a key phase two element of the US-backed plan to end the war.
Members of the board will be announced shortly, Trump said, and he will chair it. “I can say with certainty that it is the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place,” he said.
The peace plan also calls for the deployment of an International Stabilisation Force to help secure Gaza and train vetted Palestinian police units.
“The ball is now in the court of the mediators, the American guarantor and the international community to empower the committee," senior Hamas leader Bassem Naim said.
The US-backed Gaza peace plan first came into force on October 10, facilitating the return of all the hostages held by Hamas and an end to the fighting between the Palestinian militant group and Israel in the besieged territory.
The plan's second phase is now underway, though clouded by ongoing allegations of aid shortages and violence. Israeli forces have killed 451 Palestinians since the ceasefire began.
