Erdogan meets Hamas leader amid reports terror group wants to relocate
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, met Hamas’s leader for talks on Saturday amid reports the terror group was seeking to move its political headquarters from Qatar.
Turkish TV showed Mr Erdogan and Ismail Haniyeh warmly embracing at the meeting in Istanbul, during which they discussed humanitarian assistance to Gaza and sanctions that Ankara recently announced against Israel.
The meeting comes amid reports that Hamas is on the lookout for a new base for its operations abroad after Qatar signalled that it no longer wants to host the group.
Doha is reportedly frustrated at the lack of movement in ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel since the terror group launched a brutal attack on Oct 7, killing around 1,200 Israelis and taking 250 hostages.
“Qatar is in the process of a complete re-evaluation of its role,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the Qatari ruler, earlier this week.
“There are limits to this role and limits to the ability to which we can contribute to these negotiations in a constructive way.”
Hamas could look to relocate to Turkey
Hamas’s political hierarchy has been based in Qatar since 2012, where the Gulf kingdom has put them up in luxury hotels as it has taken on a role as a mediator.
But Hamas has reached out to Oman and at least one other country in the region in recent days to ask if they could relocate there, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The meeting between Mr Haniyeh and Mr Erdogan has raised suspicions that Turkey may be looking to fill the gap left by Qatar.
Hakan Fidan, the Turkish foreign minister, visited Doha on Wednesday in a sign that Ankara is seeking to deepen his ties with Hamas.
The terror group has had a second, smaller office in Istanbul since 2011 and Turkey has long supported the Islamist ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an offshoot.
Mr Erdogan has long refused to call Hamas a terror group, instead branding it a liberation army, and since the Oct 7 attack he has been one of its most vocal supporters.
“Even if only I, Tayyip Erdogan, remain, I will continue as long as God gives me my life, to defend the Palestinian struggle and to be the voice of the oppressed Palestinian people,” the Turkish strongman said ahead of the meeting.
Mr Haniyeh was in Istanbul on Oct 7, but was reportedly asked to leave after photos emerged showing Palestinian gunmen celebrating after killing hundreds of civilians.
Shortly afterwards, Ankara recalled its ambassador to Israel and Israel extracted its diplomatic team from Turkey.
Unlikely Israel will accept Turkey as mediator
In January, Mr Erdogan announced that he was helping provide documentation for South Africa’s case against Israel in the International Court of Justice accusing the Jewish state of genocide.
Mr Erdogan has also compared Benjamin Netanjahu, the Israeli prime minister, to Hitler over the tactics employed by the Israeli army in Gaza.
Earlier this month, Ankara announced sanctions against Israel on goods including steel, aluminium and cement, saying the export ban would be lifted when Israel agreed to a ceasefire.
Israelis have responded by boycotting Turkish fruit and vegetables.
Any products including the word “Turkish” – such as Strauss Group’s Elite Turkish Coffee – have also had to rebrand amid the backlash, instead using slogans such as “long live Israel” on its packaging alongside the Israeli flag.
As a result, it is unlikely Israel would be willing to accept Mr Erdogan as a mediator in the conflict.
Doha is widely seen by the Israeli government as too biased to be impartial, and many are hoping that if they do step aside, Cairo will step into the role instead.
“Egypt should have been the main mediator from the beginning,” a member of the hostage negotiation team in Israel told The Telegraph.
“They don’t align with the Muslim Brotherhood mentality and have no vested interests with Hamas like Qatar and Turkey do. Both countries have for years supported Hamas and both align with the Islamist ideology Hamas holds.”
04:04 PM BST
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Thank you for following our live coverage of the Middle East crisis.
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04:03 PM BST
What happened today
We’re ending our live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East for today.
Here is what happened today:
A member of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces was killed and eight wounded in a reported “bombing” of an Iraqi military base housing a coalition of pro-Iranian armed groups.
At least nine people, six of them children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, according to hospital authorities.
Iran’s foreign minister said that Friday’s attack on Isfahan was not conducted by Israel and the weapons involved were mere ‘toys’
Ten Palestinian militants were killed in an ongoing Israeli raid in the West Bank, according to the Israel Defence Forces.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Hamas’ political leader, amid reports that the group is considering moving its political headquarters from Qatar.
03:34 PM BST
Pictured: Satellite photo shows Iranian damage to Israeli air base
A satellite photo shows a repaired taxiway after the Iranian drone attack on Israel last week damaged part of Nevatim air base.
Israel, the United States and their allies shot down 99 per cent of more than 100 drones and dozens of cruise and ballistic missiles in an unprecedented show of force on April 13. However, at least five ballistic missiles were not intercepted, hitting the Nevatim air base in the Negev desert in the south of Israel, as well as striking another airbase in the Negev.
03:16 PM BST
Ten killed in ongoing Israeli raid in West Bank
Ten Palestinian militants have been killed in an ongoing Israeli raid in the West Bank, according to the Israel Defence Forces.
Israeli troops have been carrying out a counter-terrorism operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp area near the Palestinian city of Tulkarm for over 40 hours, the military says.
At least 10 gunmen have been killed and eight wanted Palestinians have been detained, according to a IDF statement reported by AFP, whilst eight Israeli soldiers and a police officer were injured in the raid.
The army also reports that the troops destroyed a bomb-making lab and seized firearms.
Tulkarm Brigades group, which includes militants from numerous Palestinian factions, said its fighters were still exchanging fire with Israeli forces on Saturday.
03:07 PM BST
Palestinian Authority to reconsider US ties after veto of bid for full UN membership, Abbas says
The Palestinian Authority will reconsider bilateral relations with the US after Washington vetoed a Palestinian request for full United Nations membership, according to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The move by the US effectively denied Palestine’s recognition as a state from the UN’s perspective.
A US state department spokesman described the Palestinian statehood motion as “premature”, adding that “there are unresolved questions as to whether the applicant can meet criteria to be considered as a state.”
02:43 PM BST
Pictured: Aftermath of Israeli airstrike on the Radwan family house in Rafah
The Israeli airstrike on the Radwan family house in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said on Saturday.
The strike hit the house in the western Tel Sultan neighbourhood of Rafah on late Friday, according to Gaza’s civil defence.
The Abu Yousef al Najjar Hospital’s records show the bodies of six children, two women and a man were taken to the area’s main morgue.
Among those killed were Abdel-Fattah Sobhi Radwan, his wife Najlaa Ahmed Aweidah and their three children, his brother-in-law Ahmed Barhoum said.
Mr Barhoum also lost his wife, Rawan Radwan, and their 5-year-old daughter, Alaa.
“This is a world devoid of all human values and morals,” Mr Barhoum told The Associated Press on Saturday morning, with the report describing him crying as he held Alaa’s body in his arms.
01:42 PM BST
People attend the funeral ceremony for Damian Soból, volunteer for World Central Kitchen
People attend the funeral ceremony for Damian Soból, a volunteer for World Central Kitchen, at the Main Cemetery in Przemysl, southeast Poland.
Soból died after an Israeli missile strike on Gaza killed seven aid workers on April 1, including three British citizens.
12:43 PM BST
Home secretary writes to Metropolitan Police and Mayor of London over officer’s ‘openly Jewish’ remark
James Cleverly, the home secretary, has written to the Metropolitan Police and the Mayor of London, after an officer stopped a man who was wearing a traditional kippah cap from crossing a road during a pro-Palestinian march because he was “openly Jewish”.
The charity Campaign Against Antisemitism released the video on Thursday which showed a police officer preventing Gideon Falter, the charity’s chief executive, from crossing a road in London due to a pro-Palestinian protest calling for a halt to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza on April 13.
The footage shows the police officer telling Falter he was concerned his presence could prompt a “reaction” because he was “quite openly Jewish”.
The home secretary’s letter remains private, but a Home Office spokesperson said: “We welcome the Met Police’s apology, and recognise the complexities of policing fast-moving public protests, but simply being Jewish – or of any other race or religion – should never be seen as provocative.”
“Anyone of any religion should be free to go about their lives and feel safe doing so,” the spokesperson added.
12:27 PM BST
Pictured: Blast hit a pro-Iran military base
12:07 PM BST
US House of Representatives to vote on $95 billion Israel and Ukraine aid package
The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives is to vote on, and is expected to pasS a $95 billion legislative package providing security assistance to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, despite objections from party hardliners.
More than two months have passed since the Democratic-majority Senate passed a similar measure.
The aid package would split the funds between the three nations. While a significant proportion of the aid is reserved for Ukraine, a total of $26.38bn (£21.2bn) would be provided to support Israel.
The aid would go towards bolstering Israel’s missile and rocket defence systems, enhancing weapons productions and supporting other services provided to Israel, in light of recent attacks. The bill would reserve $9.1bn for humanitarian needs, although it would prohibit funds to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
11:44 AM BST
Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministers discuss how to boost aid to Gaza
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said he addressed the “grave situation” in Gaza and how to step up humanitarian aid during a meeting in Istanbul today with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry.
“We have discussed what more we can do to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, and what can be done in the long run for a two-state solution,” Fidan told a joint news conference with Shoukry.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian foreign minister urged both Iran and Israel to exercise restraint, according to Reuters, amid soaring tensions in the Middle East.
11:27 AM BST
IDF claims attacks on northern Gaza
The Israel Defence Forces has said it “attacked targets” overnight in the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the Israeli Air Force says it initiated the attack after intercepting a “launch”, which crossed from Beit Hanoun towards the Southern Israeli city of Sderot.
The Air Force claims to have hit “dozens” of targets over the past day, including “armed terrorists, military infrastructures and military buildings”.
10:59 AM BST
Israel’s attack drones were ‘toys’, says Iran foreign minister
Friday’s attack on Isfahan was not conducted by Israel and the weapons involved were mere ‘toys’, according to Iran’s foreign minister.
“Last night was not a strike… [it was] more like toys that our children play with - not drones.” said Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, speaking with NBC News in New York, where he was attending a UN Security council session.
Israel launched a retaliatory strike against Iran on April 19, with explosions reported near a military base in the central city of Isfahan.
Amirabdollahian also said that Iran did not intend on responding unless there was a significant attack by Israel, warning that “if Israel takes a decisive action against my country” the Iranian response “will be immediate and to the maximum and will cause them to regret it.”
The recent heightening of tensions between Israel and Iran began after an Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1, and the subsequent attack from Iran on April 13, which involved more than 300 drones and missiles.
10:45 AM BST
At least nine killed in strikes on Rafah, including six children, says Gaza hospital authorities
At least nine people, six of them children, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, according to hospital authorities.
The strike hit a residential building in Gaza’s southernmost city, which currently contains than half of Gaza’s total population of approximately 2.3 million people, the majority of whom have been displaced by ongoing fighting.
09:54 AM BST
Why war may be the best chance to kick out the Iranian regime
For decades, Iran and Israel have prepared for the unthinkable, and diligently avoided allowing it to happen. A full-scale showdown between the Middle East’s superpowers would be devastating for both, and plunge the entire region into all-out war. Now, finally, that war may be breaking out.
Early on Friday morning, Israel carried out its first ever overt strike against Iranian territory, on an airbase in Isfahan, a clear retaliation for Iran’s own first ever direct missile strike against Israel on April 14. Will this cycle of tit-for-tat violence escalate into direct, all-out fighting? Or, like duelists who have both fired their pistols, will both sides accept that honour has been satisfied?
Just hours before the reported strike, Iran’s foreign minister had warned of a “decisive, definitive, and regretful” response if the Israelis hit Iranian assets.
The ball is now in Iran’s court. Whatever happens, the pressure is on a brutal theocratic regime that has held power since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. It knows that war could unite Iranians or fatally split them, and that as a result it is facing a crisis that could define it or destroy it. Four factions are jockeying for influence. But only one man will decide what happens next.
Read Roland Oliphant and David Child’s full report here.
09:41 AM BST
Gaza death toll rises to 34,049, Gaza’s health ministry says
The death toll in Gaza has risen to 34,049, after 37 people were killed in the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has said.
It added 68 people have also been wounded in the last 24 hours, bringing the total injured to 76,901.
09:27 AM BST
Hamas leaders looking at leaving Qatar amid growing pressure in hostage talks
Hamas’s political chiefs are considering moving their base of operations out of Qatar, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, as the country comes under increasing pressure from US legislators to get Hamas to agree to a hostage deal with Israel.
The report chains that Hamas have contacted two regional countries, including Oman, about the prospect of relocating its political base.
Qatar has been helping to mediate ceasefire discussions between Israel and Hamas along with Egypt and the United States. However, Hamas has rejected the last five ceasefire proposals offered by Israel.
“The talks have already stalled again with barely any signs or prospects for them to resume any time soon, and distrust is rising between Hamas and the negotiators,” an Arab mediator is quoted as saying in the report.
09:05 AM BST
Member of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces killed and eight wounded in ‘bombing’ on Iraq military base, security sources say
One member of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces killed and eight wounded in a “bombing” overnight on an Iraqi military base housing a coalition of pro-Iranian armed groups, two security sources have reported, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP)
The explosion hit the Kalso military base in Babylon province, south of Baghdad, where Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces is stationed, according to an interior ministry source and a military official.
In a statement, the group said an “explosion” had inflicted “material losses” and casualties.
The security sources would not identify who was responsible, or say whether it had been a drone strike.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the alleged attack.
NEW - reported airstrike on an #Iraq military base & weapons depot in Iskandariya in #Babil province.
Footage here & elsewhere shows clear signs of secondary detonations of weaponry/ammunition therein.pic.twitter.com/uG9AXZuRW2— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) April 19, 2024
08:35 AM BST
Iran downplays Israel attack in sign of cooling tensions
Iran has no plans to retaliate after Israel fired missiles in a show of force on Friday morning.
Israel reportedly targeted the air defences of a key nuclear plant near Isfahan with drones, according to US officials.
Tehran played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for retaliation - a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war.
Iran’s foreign minister said the drones were “mini-drones” and that they had caused no damage or casualties.
The limited scale of the attack and Iran’s muted response appeared to signal a successful effort by diplomats who have been working to avert all-out war since an Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel on Saturday.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters there were no plans to respond against Israel for the incident.
“The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack,” the official said.
