Hamas is taking Israel’s complaint to NATO against Turkey for hosting Hamas leaders seriously, concerned that it might be a prelude to a resumption of assassinations of its leaders abroad.

Israel filed the complaint Nov. 26 as the Shin Bet revealed the arrest of a military cell in the West Bank prepared to attack Israeli targets and said that the cell’s members had received military training abroad under the leadership of Hamas in Turkey.

Hamas has denied the accusations, stressing that its involvement in Turkey is limited to humanitarian and media work. Hossam Badran, a spokesman for Hamas based in Qatar, told Al-Monitor, “The accusations made by Israel against Turkey are invalid, but they stem from an Israeli desire to divert people’s attention from its failure in the Gaza war and its inability to stop the ‘Jerusalem intifada’ toward other minor issues, knowing full well that Turkey has strong ties with the Palestinian people in general and not with Hamas in particular.”

“Israel’s accusations against Turkey fall under the category of card shuffling, and the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, assumes the responsibility for the resistance operations carried out against the occupation in the occupied territories. Turkey is a large sovereign state, and we do not accept to harm its sovereignty as it is only being hospitable toward some of the movement’s members,” Badran said.