Israel has intensified its diplomatic and security campaigns against Hamas, and is also calling on Turkey to shut down the group’s activities and offices in the country. These calls come after a Nov. 21 terror attack in Jerusalem’s Old City, perpetrated by a member of Hamas who had contacts with Hamas seniors in Turkey, and following the exposure of a large Hamas cell in the West Bank, also affiliated with operatives of the group in Istanbul.
Israel’s public broadcasting Kan channel reported after the attack in Jerusalem, in which 26-year-old Eliyahu David Kay was killed and four other Israelis wounded, that the gunman had traveled to Turkey several times in recent months. Security agencies said that during these trips the gunman, Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, met with senior Hamas officials, who guided his plans. Family members of Shkhaydam denied that, claiming he flew to Istanbul to meet with his son who studies in the country and to inspect real estate he owns there.
