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Israeli Report: Hamas Plans Operations to Stir Chaos in West Bank

Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces in the village of Susiya in the southern West Bank (AFP)
Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces in the village of Susiya in the southern West Bank (AFP)
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Israeli Report: Hamas Plans Operations to Stir Chaos in West Bank

Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces in the village of Susiya in the southern West Bank (AFP)
Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces in the village of Susiya in the southern West Bank (AFP)

Leaked Israeli intelligence information revealed the arrest of a large cell of 60 members who confessed that Hamas had plotted to carry out major attacks against Israeli targets to make Israeli army invade the West Bank and stir chaos that would eventually cause the fall of the Palestinian Authority.

The information, parts of which were published in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, and others in a report by the Information Center on Intelligence and Terrorism attributed to Major General Meir Amit in Tel Aviv, said that Hamas - in parallel with its negotiations through the Egyptian mediator for calm with Israel and reconciliation with the PA - was working in two directions: the first, preparing for a missile war with Israel by developing its missile stockpile and its advanced drones, and second by plotting bombing operations.

The report claimed that Hamas was trying to strengthen its position in the region to force Israel to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip and find a new understanding mechanism in the West Bank.

The Intelligence Center confirmed that the movement’s “attempts to encourage terrorist operations in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), while maintaining relative calm in the Gaza Strip and trying to push the settlement forward, were aimed at harming Israel on the one hand, and strengthening Hamas’ position within the Palestinian regime, by challenging the PA and harming its ability to govern, on the other.”

“Hamas’ efforts to activate terrorist cells in Judea and Samaria are ongoing. Most of them were thwarted at an early stage by Israel, sometimes with the help of the PA, but other times the movement succeeded in carrying out deadly attacks,” the intelligence center reported.

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Erdogan Says Türkiye Expects Allies to Pull Support from Kurds in Post-Assad Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (not pictured), Ankara, Türkiye, 04 September 2024. (File/EPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (not pictured), Ankara, Türkiye, 04 September 2024. (File/EPA)
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Erdogan Says Türkiye Expects Allies to Pull Support from Kurds in Post-Assad Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (not pictured), Ankara, Türkiye, 04 September 2024. (File/EPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (not pictured), Ankara, Türkiye, 04 September 2024. (File/EPA)

Türkiye expects foreign countries will withdraw support for Kurdish fighters in Syria following the toppling of Bashar al-Assad, President Tayyip Erdogan said, as Ankara seeks to isolate Kurds who have long fought alongside US troops.

Speaking to reporters on the flight home from a summit in Egypt on Thursday, Erdogan said there was no longer any reason for outsiders to back Kurdish YPG fighters. His comments were released by his office on Friday.

The Kurdish YPG has been the main force in a US-backed alliance in northern Syria, but Türkiye considers the group an extension of the PKK, which has long fought the Turkish state and is banned as terrorists by Ankara, Washington and the EU.

In his remarks, Erdogan compared the US-backed YPG to ISIS, and said neither group had any future in Syria.

"In the upcoming period, we do not believe that any power will continue to collaborate with terrorist organizations. The heads of terrorist organizations such as ISIS and PKK-YPG will be crushed in the shortest possible time."

According to Reuters, the United States still has 900 troops on the ground in Syria working alongside the YPG-led alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces. The SDF played a major role on the ground defeating ISIS militants in 2014-2017 with US air support, and still guards Islamist fighters in prison camps.

Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the YPG-led SDF in northern Syria, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halts support for the fighters.

Hostilities have escalated since Assad was toppled less than two weeks ago, with Türkiye and Syrian groups it backs seizing the city of Manbij from the SDF on Dec. 9, prompting the United States to broker a fragile ceasefire.

Erdogan told reporters that Türkiye wanted to see a new Syria in which all ethnic and religious groups can live in harmony. To achieve this, " ISIS, the PKK and its versions which threaten the survival of Syria need to be eradicated", he said.

"The PKK terrorist organization and its extensions in particular have reached the end of their lifespan," Erdogan added.

On Thursday, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi told Reuters that Kurdish fighters from outside Syria who had joined the group's ranks would leave if a truce were agreed with Türkiye, long one of Ankara's major demands.

In his remarks, Abdi acknowledged for the first time that Kurdish fighters from other countries - including PKK members - had been assisting the SDF, but said they would no longer be needed under a truce.

A Turkish Defense Ministry official said there was no talk of a ceasefire between Türkiye and the SDF, adding that Ankara would continue taking counter-terrorism measures until "the PKK/YPG lays down its arms and its foreign fighters leave Syria".