Israel FM tells embassy staff honoring Haniyeh ‘Go mourn in Turkey’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Friday August 2nd a day of mourning for the Hamas leader who he described as a ‘martyr.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israel’s Foreign Minister summoned the Turkish ambassador after the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv flew its flag at half-mast to mourn the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

FM Israel Katz said, “Israel will not accept expressions of participation in mourning for a murderer like Ismail Haniyeh who was the head of the terrorist organization Hamas that committed the acts of rape and murder on October 7.”

He added, “If the representatives of the embassy want to mourn, let them go to Turkey and mourn together with their master Erdogan, who embraces the terrorist organization Hamas and supports its acts of murder and atrocities.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Friday August 2nd a day of mourning for Haniyeh who he described as a “martyr.”

On X Erdogan posted, “In order to show our support for the Palestinian cause and our solidarity with our Palestinian brothers, a day of national mourning has been declared tomorrow (Friday, August 2) due to the martyrdom of Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Ismail Haniyeh.

Haniyeh, Hamas’s political chief, was killed in Tehran early Wednesday morning.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the assassination, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was not involved in Haniyeh’s death.

Even before the assassination of Haniyeh, Erdogan’s anti-Israel rhetoric was heating up as evidenced by his unprecedented statement on Sunday that Turkey should invade Israel to stop the war in Gaza.

“We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these…things to Palestine,” Erodgan said at a meeting of his AK party held in Rize, Turkey.

“Just like we entered Karabakh [Azerbaijan], just like we entered Libya, we might do similar to them,” Erdogan said in the televised discussion.

“There is no reason why we cannot do this … We must be strong so that we can take these steps.”

Katz compared Erdogan to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein who also threatened to invade Israel and called on NATO to expel Turkey for Erdogan’s inflammatory threats.

Ismael HaniyehIsrael KatzIsrael-Turkey relationsRecep Tayyip Erdogan