The Shin Bet and IDF revealed Sunday details of dozens of planned attacks foiled over the past year, directed by Hamas operatives based in Turkey operating through the organization's Judea and Samaria headquarters in Istanbul. The agencies named Zaher Jabrin as head of Judea and Samaria area and Iman Abu Khalil as head of its military wing, alongside several operatives indicted for recruitment, weapons smuggling, and fund transfers from Turkish soil.
The Shin Bet and IDF on Sunday evening published the names of five indicted operatives, including Zaher Jabrin and Iman Abu Khalil, as part of a detailed breakdown of what they described as a systematic campaign by Hamas's West Bank headquarters based in Istanbul. The agencies said the operatives—Iman Shrauna (recruitment), Muhammad Malah (fund transfers between Turkey and Qatar), Majd Jaaba (weapons smuggling linked to the November 2023 Tunnel Checkpoint attack), Walid Abu Nassar (financing infrastructure in Bethlehem), and Salam Yaish (recruitment)—acted from Turkish soil to direct dozens of foiled attacks over the past year.
The Zioneer first reported the Shin Bet and IDF disclosures at 12:08 Jerusalem, with successive updates naming Jabrin and Abu Khalil as key network leaders. By 12:20, an article detailed the agencies' description of 'unhindered' activity by the Istanbul-based headquarters. A bulletin at 15:10 reiterated the network's structure and the operatives' roles. The evening statement adds new specificity by naming the five indicted operatives and detailing their individual roles, while the core accusation—that Turkey permits the network to operate unimpeded—has remained consistent across all previous versions.
As The Zioneer reported at 12:08 Jerusalem, the Shin Bet and IDF earlier explicitly accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of harboring a Hamas terror infrastructure. The Sunday evening statement does not name Erdoğan directly but stresses that operatives carry out their activities 'unhindered' from Turkish soil, hold meetings with operatives from Judea and Samaria, and exploit infrastructure in Turkey to transfer instructions and funds.
It remains unverified whether the five named operatives are currently in Turkish custody or free to move, and the agencies have not disclosed whether any of the indicted individuals have been formally charged in absentia or are subject to extradition requests.
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