Turkish police arrested seven people on Friday on suspicion of selling information to the Mossad spy agency through private detectives, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
The arrests were made in connection with tracking and monitoring local targets, a Turkish security official quoted by Reuters said on Friday.
The suspects were detained in a joint operation with Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, or MIT.
Turkey has previously warned Israel of “serious consequences” if it tries to hunt down members of the Hamas terror group living outside Palestinian territories, including in Turkey. Turkish and Israeli leaders have traded public barbs since Israel’s war with Hamas began last October.
Acting on warrants issued by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, police anti-terror and intelligence branch officers carried out raids in Istanbul and the west coast city of Izmir, Anadolu reported.
Two other suspects in the investigation were thought to have been detained earlier.
State broadcaster TRT, citing unnamed security sources, reported on Friday that the suspects were believed to have sought to monitor and photograph the targets, place tracking devices on them and gain other information for the Mossad.
Ankara has made no formal statement regarding arrests. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
Last month, 34 people were detained by Turkish police on suspicion of spying for Israel. They were accused of planning to carry out activities that included reconnaissance and “pursuing, assaulting and kidnapping” foreign nationals living in Turkey.
At the time, Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said most of the suspects were charged with committing “political or military espionage” on behalf of Israeli intelligence.
The Mossad is said to have recruited Palestinians and Syrian nationals in Turkey as part of an operation against foreigners living in Turkey.
Following the January 2 arrests, Anadolu cited a prosecution document as saying the operation targeted “Palestinian nationals and their families … within the scope of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
The head of the Shin Bet security agency said in December that his organization was prepared to target Hamas anywhere, including in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar.
Unlike most of its Western allies and some Arab nations, Turkey does not classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.