Secret papers reveal Hamas plan to set up base in Turkey

Hamas planned to establish a secret base in Turkey and other terror cells elsewhere to co-ordinate attacks against Israeli targets in neighbouring countries, including Nato members, according to files captured by the Israeli army in Gaza and seen by The Times.

The printed document titled “Founding a base in Turkey” was discovered in the home of Hamza Abu Shanab, chief of staff to Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, the Israelis claim. It describes efforts by Israel to clamp down on the Gaza Strip over the past decade that had put Hamas on the defensive.

As a result, according to the plan’s unnamed author, “there is no choice but to act with a major effort to establish military hubs which will be the base