Turkey’s intelligence head meets Hamas chief Haniyeh in Qatar

Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MIT) chief Ibrahim Kalin met Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar’s capital Doha, Turkish state broadcaster TRT said on Saturday.

Kalin and Haniyeh discussed efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Israeli hostages held in the enclave and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to TRT.

Hamas on Saturday condemned overnight US strikes in Iraq and Syria, saying Washington had poured “oil on the fire” in the Middle East.

The US “bears full responsibility for the repercussions of this aggressive attack on Iraq and Syria,” the group said in a statement.

“Those who pour oil on the fire, we assure you that the region will not find stability, nor peace until the Zionist (Israeli) aggression, genocidal crimes and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip ceases.”

The United States launched airstrikes against Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq and Syria, with President Joe Biden vowing more to come, in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan on Sunday.