Private detective detained in Turkey spied for Mossad on Hamas leader Jabarin: Reports

A private detective detained nearly a week ago in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul on charges of collaborating with the Israeli Mossad spy agency had been assigned to gather information about a high-profile member of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement, reports said. 

Sources told local media on Thursday that the individual, identified as Serkan Çiçek, was sharing classified information with the occupying Tel Aviv regime about the places frequented by Zaher Jabarin, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau. The operation was reportedly part of a plan aimed at assassinating him.

Jabarin survived an assassination attempt in the Qatari capital of Doha on September 9, which also targeted members of the Hamas negotiating delegation.

According to the same sources, Turkish security agencies are currently on heightened alert due to increasing worries regarding potential assassination attempts against Hamas leaders within Turkey.

Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) announced on October 3 that Çiçek was taken into custody in a joint operation with the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Istanbul Provincial Police Department’s Counter-Terrorism Branch, code‑named “Metron Activity.”

Cicek, a detective, had reportedly worked with Musa Kus and lawyer Tugrulhan Dip in the past, both “arrested for spying for Israel” and accused of providing personal data from public records to detectives “in exchange for financial gain,” according to Turkey’s official Anadolu Agency.

The report further noted that Çiçek had been in contact with a member of Israel’s Online Operations Center named Faysal Rasheed, and had admitted to allegedly conducting surveillance on a Palestinian activist.

Çiçek was contacted on July 31 by Rasheed, who reportedly was posing as a member of a foreign law firm.

Rasheed then hired Çiçek to surveil a Palestinian activist in Başakşehir, which is situated on the outskirts of Istanbul, paying $4,000 in cryptocurrency; an offer which Çiçek accepted “despite knowing his associate Kus had been jailed for spying for Israel.”

According to Turkish security sources, Mossad frequently utilizes online communication applications to enlist operatives for the purpose of spying on Palestinians and other foreign nationals residing in Turkey.

In 2024, Turkish officials arrested 33 individuals believed to be selling information to Mossad.