As the terrorist shooting in Tel Aviv earlier this month was unfolding, spokesman for Hamas in the Gaza Strip Hazem Qassem gave an interview to Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen network in which he attacked the Turkish Embassy's decision to condemn the attack.
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Until that interview, Hamas had refrained from speaking out against Turkey's recent efforts to mend ties with Israel.
Hamas kept mum about President Isaac Herzog's visit to Ankara, which the terrorist organization saw as a diplomatic event not worth ruffling Turkey's feathers over. In addition, as long as Turkey wasn't taking any significant steps to restrict Hamas' activities in its territory, Hamas did not see any reason for a conflict with the Turks.
But it appears that Qassem's remarks in the interview were a response to something besides Turkey's condemnation of the attack – a process underway for a few months now in which Turkey has deported a number of Hamas members active in its territory.
According to a Palestinian official who spoke to Israel Hayom, "Dozens of people identified with Hamas in various circles have been deported [from Turkey]."
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar confirmed this report in an article published Tuesday that said some Hamas members who had traveled outside Turkey were not being allowed to return.
The Palestinian official said there was nothing "random" about the decision.
"Turkey asked them to leave, and it actually happened in the last few months. Some of the people with ties to Hamas' military wing have been deported," he claimed.
Moreover, the official claimed that Israel was behind the development.
"The Israelis gave Turkey a list of Hamas members and information about involvement of some of them in 'military' [terrorist] activity. In response, the Turks contacted Hamas and told them, 'You promised you wouldn't do anything like that here, so now you need to leave,'" he said.
The official said that Turkey had told the Hamas leadership that "economic interests" were at play: "The renewed ties between Turkey and Israel are supposedly diplomatic and political, but Hamas knows that Israel has influence over Turkey when it comes to security issues. A few Israeli security representatives have also visited Turkey."
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