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Israel Wants Türkiye to Shut Down ‘Hamas’ Office

The Israeli charge d'affaires in Türkiye Irit Lillian is a candidate for the post of ambassador.
The Israeli charge d'affaires in Türkiye Irit Lillian is a candidate for the post of ambassador.
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Israel Wants Türkiye to Shut Down ‘Hamas’ Office

The Israeli charge d'affaires in Türkiye Irit Lillian is a candidate for the post of ambassador.
The Israeli charge d'affaires in Türkiye Irit Lillian is a candidate for the post of ambassador.

The Israeli charge d'affaires in Türkiye said on Friday the re-appointment of an ambassador to Ankara could happen within weeks, while repeating Israel's expectation that the Hamas office in Istanbul be closed down.

Lillian said the process of re-appointing an ambassador to Türkiye was only a matter of "when and not if."

Lillian reiterated the challenges to the ties, saying that the biggest obstacle to the "positive tendency seen throughout the year" was the existence of a Hamas office in Istanbul.

"There are plenty of challenges, but from our point of view, one of the main obstacles is the Hamas office in Istanbul," she said.

"Hamas is a terrorist organization, and it is no secret that Israel expects Türkiye to close this office and send the activists there away from here," Lillian added.

"It's only because of elections in Israel that things might be delayed on the Israeli side," Lillian said.

Lillian maintained close ties with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office, and especially with his senior advisor İbrahim Kalın, her Turkish counterpart responsible for the reconciliation process, reported Israel's Ynetnews.

Last week, Türkiye and Israel announced that they would reappoint ambassadors, four years after they summoned each other’s envoy.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid held a phone call earlier this month, expressing their satisfaction with the progress in ties and congratulating each other on the decision to appoint ambassadors.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid's office and the Foreign Ministry don't anticipate any legal obstacles to the appointment of Lillian as ambassador to Türkiye.

Still, the appointment requires legal consultations.

According to reports, Erdogan is also interested in appointing an ambassador before Israel's elections in November. This is partly because of his concern that if Benjamin Netanyahu returns to office, the normalization process could stall.

Israel is concerned that Erdogan could decide to appoint Ufuk Ulutas, who is the head of the Center for Strategic Research at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is perceived as anti-Israel.

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US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)

The US on Monday eased some restrictions on Syria's transitional government to allow the entry of humanitarian aid after opposition factions ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last month.

The US Treasury issued a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

The move does not lift sanctions on the nation that has been battered by more than a decade of war, but indicates a limited show of US support for the new transitional government.

The general license underscores America's commitment to ensuring its sanctions “do not impede activities to meet basic human needs, including the provision of public services or humanitarian assistance,” a Treasury Department statement reads.

Since Assad's ouster, representatives from the nation's new de facto authorities have said that the new Syria will be inclusive and open to the world.

The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.

The announcement followed a meeting in Damascus between al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaeda, and the top US diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first US diplomatic delegation into Syria since Assad’s ouster. The US and UN have long designated HTS as a terrorist organization.

HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.

Much of the world ended diplomatic relations with Assad because of his crackdown on protesters, and sanctioned him and his Russian and Iranian associates.

Syria’s infrastructure has been battered, with power cuts rampant in the country and some 90% of its population living in poverty. About half the population won’t know where its next meal will come from, as inflation surges.

The pressure to lift sanctions has mounted in recent years as aid agencies continue to cut programs due to donor fatigue and a massive 2023 earthquake that rocked Syria and Türkiye. The tremor killed over 59,000 people and destroyed critical infrastructure that couldn’t be fixed due to sanctions and overcompliance, despite the US announcing some humanitarian exemptions.