LONDON — The Palestinian terror group Hamas is secretly operating a facility in Turkey where it is carrying out cyberattacks and counterintelligence operations, according to a British newspaper report on Friday.
Citing Western intelligence sources, The Times of London said the headquarters was set up two years ago and is overseen by Hamas military leaders in the Gaza Strip.
The headquarters, which is separate from Hamas’s official offices in the city, was set up without the knowledge of Turkish authorities, the report said.
The facility is reportedly overseen by Samakh Saraj, a senior member of the terror group who reports directly to Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza.
The report said the headquarters’ missions included obtaining “dual-use” equipment for producing weapons; coordinating cyberattacks against Hamas’s enemies.
Meanwhile, Qatar, the main financier of Hamas, is facing a lawsuit lodged against it before a US court in New York city.
According to the charges, several Qatari financial institutions, controlled to a large extent by Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, provided millions of dollars to the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements under the cover of “charitable donations.”
The lawsuit alleges that these institutions used the American banking system to finance Palestinian groups illegally. — Agencies