AUTHORITIES in Turkey have detained 33 people suspected of spying for Israel, the state-run news agency reported today.

Investigators are still searching for 13 other people believed to have links to Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, according to the Anadolu Agency.

The suspects were detained in raids in Istanbul and seven other provinces for allegedly planning activities including “reconnaissance” and “pursuing, assaulting and kidnapping” foreign nationals living in Turkey, the agency reported.

The report was published weeks after the head of Israeli domestic security agency Shin Bet said in an audio recording that his organisation was prepared to destroy Hamas “in every place,” including Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded by warning Israel of “serious consequences” if it attacked Hamas officials on Turkish soil.

Turkey and Israel restored normal diplomatic relations in 2022 by reappointing ambassadors following years of tensions. But those ties quickly deteriorated after the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, with Ankara becoming one of the strongest critics of the Israeli military’s bloody onslaught in Gaza.

Israel initially withdrew its diplomats from Turkey over security concerns and later announced that it was recalling its diplomats for political reasons, citing “increasingly harsh statements” by Turkish officials. Turkey also withdrew its ambassador from Israel.

Although Mr Erdogan’s reaction to the Israel-Hamas war was fairly muted at the outset,  he has since blasted Israel’s actions in Gaza as verging on genocide and called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be prosecuted for war crimes, comparing him to Adolf Hitler.

The Turkish government has hosted several Hamas officials in the past and Mr Erdogan has said that the Palestinian Islamist group is fighting for the liberation of its lands and people.