The acute conflict between Turkey and Israel over the war against the terrorist Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Erdogan's support for it is not limited to the political-diplomatic level, but brings the two countries' secret services, MIT and Mossad respectively, into conflict.
The Palestinian who hacked the Iron Dome
According to Turkish media, MIT rescued a Gazan hacker responsible for disrupting Israel's "Iron Dome" defense system from Mossad agents who were trying to kidnap him, according to published information.
Turkey's National Intelligence Agency(MIT) rescued Omar A. from possible death or kidnapping in an international operation and offered him protection as the famous Palestinian hacker was targeted by Mossad in Turkey and Malaysia.
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The young man credited with the attack on Israel's infamous Iron Dome air defence system has been wanted by Israel for a long time.
After three years of investigation, Israeli intelligence identified "interruptions" coming from Omar A of the Irone Dome in 2015 and 2016 that helped the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, launch rocket attacks into Israel.
Omar, a computer programming graduate of the Islamic University of Gaza, was the architect of hacking software for the Gaza Interior Ministry that can infiltrate Android-powered mobile phones. This put him on the Mossad's list as a potential target.
Seeking to lure him, he was offered a job through a Norwegian software company in 2019, but Omar, suspecting Israeli involvement, turned down the offer.
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Palestinian hacker moves to Turkey in 2020
The young man moved to Istanbul in 2020, but the Mossad was also after him in Turkey. MIT was also aware of his residence in Turkey.
In April 2021, an agent named Raed Ghazal contacted him, claiming to be the human rights manager of the French company Think Hire, again, offering Omar a job. Ghazal "interviewed" Omar twice in Istanbul, trying to convince him to join the company.
After Ghazal, Omar Salabi, another Mossad agent, contacted him on behalf of the French "company". He offered Omar $10,000 for coding software for them.
Omar did the work and was paid by the French company. In June 2022, another Mossad agent using the name Nikola Radonij contacted Omar, offering him a job in either Brazil or Istanbul.
He was accompanied by three other people working for Israeli intelligence, posing as a group of "programmers".
They tried to convince Omar to join the team for an online project.
Radonitz tried to convince him to travel abroad for a project, as the Mossad intended to take Omar to Tel Aviv for questioning. Omar was ready to accept the offer, MIT contacted him and warned him against the plan.
But the Mossad agents didn't give up.
His "vacation" in Malaysia-The Mossad interrogation and MIT's involvement in his rescue
Omar A. decided to vacation in Malaysia in September 2022.
The Istanbul branch of MIT's Intelligence Department intervened again and installed surveillance software on his mobile phone after warning him of a possible kidnapping while abroad.
Indeed, Omar A. was abducted days later in Kuala Lumpur and taken to a remote cabin about 50 kilometers (31.06 miles) from the Malaysian capital. There, he was interrogated and tortured by suspects working for the Mossad. Members of the Mossad in Tel Aviv participated in the interrogation via video call.
He was questioned about the methods he used to infiltrate Iron Dome and the Android-based hacker software he developed.
When MIT was informed of the kidnapping, Turkish officials contacted Malaysian authorities and through surveillance software, helped them locate the location where Omar A. was being held. Malaysian security forces stormed the house and rescued Omar A.
The hacker's return to Turkey
Eleven suspects were arrested in connection with his abduction.
Omar A. was returned to Turkey and transferred to a safe house provided by MIT.
The organization also coordinated the arrest of Foad Osama Hijazi with the anti-terrorism police in Istanbul. Hijazi was one of the Mossad agents working with Nikola Radonij.
Mossad activity abroad
In 2018, Fadi al-Batsh, an engineering researcher believed to be linked to Hamas, was assassinated near his home in the Malaysian capital by two gunmen who fled.
While his family has accused Israel's spy agency Mossad of carrying out the assassination, Israel's then Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman has denied Israel's involvement.
Israel is widely believed to have killed several Palestinian activists in the past, many of them abroad.
In 1997, in Jordan, Mossad agents tried and failed to kill the then Hamas political leader, Khaled Meshaal, by spraying poison in his ear.
Mossad is also believed to have been behind the 2010 assassination of Hamas Supreme Commander Mahmoud al-Mabuh in a Dubai hotel.
Israel has never confirmed or denied its involvement in Mabhuh's assassination.
MIT 'dismantles' foreign spy networks in Turkey
Turkish intelligence agencies earlier revealed similar Mossad plans to spy on Palestinians in the country.
In July, media reported that MIT exposed a "ghost cell" of 56 individuals who spied on non-Turkish nationals for Mossad.
Documents from MIT revealed that the spies gathered biographical information on foreign nationals through a web-based routing method, tracked vehicle movements via GPS, hacked into password-protected networks based on Wi-Fi devices and found private locations.
The "cell" made up of citizens from several Middle Eastern countries used several fake websites in multiple languages, mostly Arabic, to obtain technical locations and real IP addresses, MIT discovered.
Turkish media also reported in May that MIT took down another "cell" of 15 Mossad agents based in Istanbul and made six arrests. The agents were also found to have been trained in Europe by Mossad officials and tasked with monitoring a company and 23 individuals with commercial ties to Iran.
Last December, Turkey uncovered another group of seven people spying on Palestinians on behalf of the Mossad, which used its information to launch online smear campaigns and threats against Palestinians.
MIT, in cooperation with the Turkish police, has uncovered a number of spy networks in recent years, including one working for Russia, and foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate Israeli citizens in Turkey.
The operations also led to the discovery of efforts by Iranian intelligence agents to kidnap Iranian dissidents who fled to Turkey."
Turkey knows how to hack the Iron Dome
Apart from the above "cinematic" facts mentioned above, which are impossible to verify, one thing that certainly emerges is that the Turks, by providing "hospitality" and "security" to the Palestinian hacker, are able through him to know ways of "hacking" the "Iron Dome" while it is considered certain that he is now working for them.
