Turkey Arrests 33 Alleged Mossad Agents, as Israel Threatens Hamas Abroad

Ahnaf Kalam

Turkish authorities arrest suspected Mossad informants, January 2, 2024 (Screenshot MIT)


Turkey arrested dozens of individuals suspected of spying for Israel on Tuesday, according to the country’s interior minister, with the development coming in the wake of Israeli threats to target Hamas members abroad.

Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the counter-terrorism bureau of the Istanbul prosecutor’s office detained 33 suspects as part of an operation aimed at disrupting Mossad efforts to target foreign nationals in the country, Ali Yerlikaya posted on his X account.

The suspects were arrested in eight provinces across the country in what Ankara is calling Operation Mole.

Another 13 suspects remain at large, according to Turkish media reports.

Read the full article at the Times of Israel.

Lazar Berman is the Times of Israel‘s diplomatic reporter and a Middle East Forum Writing Fellow.

Lazar Berman is the diplomatic correspondent at the Times of Israel, where he also covers Christian Affairs. He holds an M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University and taught at Salahuddin University in Iraqi Kurdistan. Berman is a reserve captain in the IDF’s Commando Brigade and served in a Bedouin unit during his active service.
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I recently witnessed something I haven’t seen in a long time. On Friday, August 16, 2024, a group of pro-Hamas activists packed up their signs and went home in the face of spirited and non-violent opposition from a coalition of pro-American Iranians and American Jews. The last time I saw anything like that happen was in 2006 or 2007, when I led a crowd of Israel supporters in chants in order to silence a heckler standing on the sidewalk near the town common in Amherst, Massachusetts. The ridicule was enough to prompt him and his fellow anti-Israel activists to walk away, as we cheered their departure. It was glorious.