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Turkey detains 33 people accused of spying for Israel’s Mossad

Authorities are still searching for an additional 13 people suspected of links to the Israeli spy agency as tensions between Turkey and Israel have been rising amid the Israel-Hamas war.

 People take part in a solidarity protest over events happening in Gaza and the West Bank on January 01, 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey. As the world celebrated New Years, Israel warned that the ongoing offensive in Gaza could last months and continue through 2024.
People take part in a solidarity protest over events happening in Gaza and the West Bank on Jan. 1, 2024, in Istanbul, Turkey. — Chris McGrath/Getty Images

ANKARA — Turkish authorities detained 33 people suspected of spying for the Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, Turkey's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday. 

Authorities are still searching for an additional 13 people suspected of links to the Israeli agency, according to the state-run Anadolu News Agency. 

The suspects, who were rounded up in raids at 57 different locations in eight Turkish provinces, including Istanbul, are suspected of planning attacks including "pursuing, assaulting and kidnapping" foreign nationals residing in Turkey for humanitarian reasons, Yerlikaya said.

Turkish officials have not identified the nationalities of the suspects or of those who were allegedly going to be targeted, but he said that authorities also discovered 143,830 euros, $23,680, digital files and an unlicensed gun during the raid. 

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