Hamas has shifted much of its organizational center of gravity toward T\u00fcrkiye in recent months, according to meetings, activities and public positions by the group, after years in which it kept its operations there at a distance and reduced its presence.<\/p>\n
\nThe shift has coincided with statements of condemnation and solidarity after bombings in Syria, whose new government Hamas is seeking to approach.<\/p>\n
\nThe clearest sign of Hamas\u2019s growing reliance on Ankara came in May, when the group chose T\u00fcrkiye as the venue for internal elections to select the head of its political bureau. The vote ended without a decisive result.<\/p>\n
\nThree Hamas sources abroad told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group had recently resumed holding its meetings in T\u00fcrkiye, after using the Qatari capital Doha in recent years for meetings and internal elections.<\/p>\n
\nIn recent years, Turkish security agencies have announced the dismantling of \u201cespionage networks working for Israel\u2019s Mossad\u201d. Turkish media reports, citing investigations, said some of the networks\u2019 activities involved tracking Hamas members and activity in T\u00fcrkiye, along with other missions.<\/p>\n
\nIsrael had repeatedly demanded that T\u00fcrkiye deport senior Hamas figures, including prisoners freed in a 2011 exchange deal for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. <\/p>\n
\nThe most prominent among them was Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas\u2019s political bureau, who was in T\u00fcrkiye from 2011 to 2015. He moved almost permanently to Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs in 2017 and remained there until Israel assassinated him in January 2024.<\/p>\n
\nThe three sources said in separate accounts that the recent election for head of the political bureau, which ended without a decision, was held in Istanbul with leaders from the political bureau and the Shura Council present. They said the process would also resume there soon if the voting inside the Palestinian territories is completed after its recent renewal.<\/p>\n
\nA dispute with Qatar?<\/p>\n
\nThe sources said the vast majority of Hamas leaders have recently been based in T\u00fcrkiye and have stayed there for extended periods, including leaders whose families live in Qatar. <\/p>\n
\nThey said all meetings now being held, whether on ceasefire discussions, internal affairs or other files, are taking place in T\u00fcrkiye.<\/p>\n
\nIsrael targeted a meeting of Hamas leaders in Doha last September. Hamas said its senior officials survived, but five of its members were killed, along with a member of Qatar\u2019s security forces.<\/p>\n
\nAsked by Asharq Al-Awsat whether the transfer of most meetings to T\u00fcrkiye reflected security concerns or a dispute with Qatar, one senior source said: \u201cThis does not amount to a dispute with Qatar; rather, it came to ease the burden on Qatar in the face of US pressure, driven by Israel, demanding the expulsion of the movement\u2019s leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nA second source said: \u201cThe Hamas leadership still maintains a solid and strong relationship with Qatari officials, who continue to welcome the movement\u2019s leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe third source said T\u00fcrkiye was now a safer destination after the Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha. \u201cIsrael, at least, cannot attack targets in T\u00fcrkiye from the air, although it can carry out assassinations by other means. But its options are also limited,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n
\nThe source said the security situation in Qatar, amid continuing tension and strikes between Iran and the United States, could create a gap that Israel might exploit to carry out its plan to assassinate the group\u2019s leaders, \u201cas it did last time.\u201d <\/p>\n
\nAlthough Israel pledged to US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration not to repeat the attack, the source said, \u201cit cannot be trusted and may do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nMoves toward Syria<\/p>\n
\nThe activity in T\u00fcrkiye has notably coincided with two Hamas statements issued about a week apart, condemning two bombings in Damascus. The first took place near the Palace of Justice, while the second coincided with French President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s visit to Syria.<\/p>\n
\nSyria and T\u00fcrkiye have had strong ties since the overthrow of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. Hamas\u2019s condemnations came as Islamic Jihad, which is closely linked to Iran, remained silent.<\/p>\n
\nIn its statement condemning the first blast, Hamas said that \u201ctargeting innocent civilians and terrorizing peaceful people is a crime condemned by all standards, and serves only projects of chaos and the destabilization of security and stability.\u201d <\/p>\n
\nIt offered condolences to \u201cthe families of the victims, and to the Syrian Arab Republic, its leadership, government and people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHamas also declared its \u201cfull solidarity with sisterly Syria in confronting this crime\u201d and said it was confident in \u201cthe ability of Syria, its leadership and people, to overcome this ordeal and preserve its security and stability.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe second statement used almost the same language. Hamas said that \u201ctargeting Syria\u2019s security and stability represents a blatant assault that serves suspicious agendas aimed at undermining the region\u2019s security and stirring chaos in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe senior Hamas source said \u201copenness to the new Syrian government, or to other Arab, Islamic and international countries, is natural, since the movement is a national liberation movement seeking normal relations with everyone based on mutual respect, in line with the interests of each party, and in a way that guarantees everyone\u2019s safety and non-interference in the affairs of others.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAsked whether any further step was expected in the rapprochement, the source said: \u201cSo far, there is no plan for any official visit by a delegation from the movement, but such an option appears likely after the internal situation of the new government improves and it rearranges its domestic and foreign priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAccording to a source from one of the Palestinian factions that had been active in Syria before suspending its activities there, Hamas has what he described as \u201cgood relations with the Syrian government\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nThe source said Hamas had mediated in cases involving Palestinians from several factions who were detained over their previous activities before being released and moving to other countries. Others, he said, were forced to leave voluntarily for several countries.<\/p>\n
\nThe Hamas sources declined to confirm or deny the information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hamas has shifted much of its organizational center of gravity toward T\u00fcrkiye in recent months, according to meetings,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-533702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}