Turkish newspaper claims missing Palestinians spying for Mossad

The Turkish Sabah newspaper claimed on Thursday that a Mossad network of 15 people has been caught by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT), with some of the alleged spies being Arabs. The report comes after Hamas-affiliated media claimed that Palestinian spies were working for the Mossad in Turkey.

The report claimed that the suspects, all Arabs, were split into five cells of three people each and were all arrested in a covert operation on October 7. The newspaper claimed that it was able to obtain the names and photographs of the alleged spies as well.

One of the five cells was in contact with and met with case officers from the Mossad and provided information and documents important for Israel. Information about Turkish and foreign students in Turkey was given to the Mossad in exchange for payment, according to Sabah. The cells worked against opponents of Israel in Turkey.

One of the main spies, identified as A.B. by the report, allegedly collected information about what kind of facilities Turkey provides for Palestinians opposed to Israel in the country. A.B. entered Turkey in late 2015 and was reported as a missing person in June of this year, according to the report. The report he was missing was intended to divert attention from the cell, which was already under surveillance by then, Sabah claimed.

Another two suspects, identified as R.A.A. and M.A.S., were also reported as missing.

The report comes just weeks after the Hamas-affiliated Shehab news reported that seven Palestinians who had disappeared in Turkey had been arrested for spying on “Palestinian national figures” in Turkey for the Palestinian Authority’s General Intelligence Services and the Mossad. The report claimed that Turkish intelligence services caught the spies.

It is unclear if the Turkish and Hamas-affiliated reports are related.

Last month, Palestinian media reported that a number of Palestinians had gone missing in Turkey. Earlier this month, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry announced that the whereabouts 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 of obstructing the renewal of their passports, according to Shehab, with Turkish security services finding that sums of money coming from the GIS were being sent to Palestinians who were “moving in a suspicious and intense manner,” especially after Operation Guardian of the Walls in May.

The goal of the GIS spies was to prepare for assassination operations against leading Palestinian figures in Turkey, according to Shehab. The report claimed that Israel was reluctant to carry out operations itself in Turkey due to concerns of a reaction by Turkish President Erdogan.

The Shehab report additionally claimed that Omar al-Nayef, who died in the Palestinian Embassy in Bulgaria in 2016, was killed in an operation conducted by Faraj for Israel.