Turkish authorities arrested 33 persons on suspicion of conducting espionage activities on behalf of Israel, local media reported on Tuesday.
The arrest operation took place over eight provinces.
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul issued arrest warrants against a total of 46 suspects as part of an investigation into alleged activities in the country against foreign residents by Israel’s Mossad national intelligence agency.
The alleged Mossad agents are accused of reconnaissance activities, assaults and abduction attempts.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has taken a hardline pro-Hamas stance during Israel’s war against the terrorist group in the Gaza Strip, accusing the Jewish state of genocide and likening Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler.
Erdoğan has continued his alliance with Hamas, offering officials from the group a haven in Turkey despite the Oct. 7 massacre in which terrorists murdered 1,200 mostly Israeli civilians, wounded thousands more and took some 240 hostages back to Gaza.
Netanyahu said last month that the Mossad has orders to kill the top leadership of Hamas anywhere in the world.