Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) chief Ibrahim Kalın held a meeting with Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Doha on Sunday.
The meeting comes as Israel ramped up Sunday its brutal attacks across Gaza and its southern city of Rafah, in particular.
During the meeting, a Hamas delegation led by Haniyeh expressed their satisfaction with Türkiye’s initiatives in negotiations with Israel.
They also exchanged views on the current state of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group and ongoing cease-fire efforts in the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas leadership informed Kalın that the ball was in Israel's court to achieve a full cease-fire in the Palestinian enclave, where over 35,000 people have died since Oct. 7.
At the meeting in the Qatari capital, both delegations agreed on the immediate need to allow urgent humanitarian aid into Gaza, which faces famine amid an Israeli chokehold on key border crossings.
Israel earlier this month launched a ground offensive into Rafah, where over 1.4 million people were sheltering after Egypt and Qatar-mediated truce talks with Hamas collapsed in Cairo. Hamas had accepted the cease-fire proposal, but Israel rejected it, claiming it did not meet its key demands.
The Gaza war began with Hamas's unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 35,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, and injured 78,500, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave's population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the U.N.
U.N. humanitarian office in occupied Palestinian territories said the agency lost the main entry point for all humanitarian aid after Israel seized and closed the Rafah border crossing to Egypt, the only border point not controlled by Israel. The move also blocks the regular evacuation of the wounded and sick for treatment.
The U.N. chief has since warned of “catastrophic humanitarian consequences” of Israel’s military campaign in Rafah.
Israel is accused of genocide by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Tel Aviv is committing genocide in Gaza, ordering it to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
South Africa on Friday asked the ICJ to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of additional emergency measures over the war.
Also on Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lauded Hamas’ step toward a lasting peace agreement and condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for attacks on civilians in Rafah.
Türkiye has denounced Israel's attacks on Gaza, called for an immediate cease-fire, and criticized what it calls unconditional support for Israel by the West.
Ankara has halted all trade with Israel and said it had decided to join South Africa's initiative to have Israel tried for genocide at the ICJ.
Speaking to Muslim scholars in Istanbul, Erdoğan said they had accepted a cease-fire proposal by Qatar and Egypt as a "step in the path toward a lasting cease-fire," but Netanyahu's government did not want the war to end.
"We have seen that those who call themselves as a 'land of freedom' suddenly have diverted to fascism when Israel's interests are at stake," he said.
Erdoğan also criticized Israel for its ongoing expansion "through occupation and oppression," which has resulted in the loss of "innocent" lives, citing the deaths of 15,000 children as well as Palestinian suffering, with nearly 80,000 wounded and 2 million forcibly displaced.
"Every principle, rule and line regarding human rights and freedoms has been trampled underfoot in front of the eyes of the world," he said, describing Gaza as "a concentration camp," comparing it to the atrocities of "Hitler's Germany."
The Turkish president also underscored Türkiye's unwavering commitment to humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, which included an impressive contribution of "approximately 54,000 tons."
He noted: "We are the country that provides the most humanitarian aid to Gaza."
Türkiye has so far airlifted some 400 patients and injured from Gaza, including cancer patients, to be treated at Turkish hospitals.
Erdoğan also censured international media for failing to condemn Israel's killing of 150 journalists, and highlighting the U.N.'s inability to protect Palestinian staffers.
"And did Netanyahu see any serious reaction to his spoiled behavior? No. Neither Europe nor America showed a reaction that would force Israel into a cease-fire."
Erdoğan recalled that Türkiye imposed export restrictions on 54 product groups to Israel and suspended trade with the country to pressure Israel into a cease-fire and increase humanitarian aid.
"With the decision we made, we have spent about $9.5 billion from trade volume. Our decision to intervene in the genocide case filed against Israel at the International Court of Justice aims to hold the murderers accountable," he said.
Its planned assault on Rafah, hosting some 1.4 million Palestinians mostly displaced by Israel's attacks, has helped fuel the deepest tensions in relations between Israel and its main ally, Washington, in generations.
Ankara on Friday welcomed the U.N. General Assembly's backing for a Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member. Erdoğan on Sunday called on countries not recognizing a Palestinian sovereign state to do so after the vote but slammed Washington and others who voted against it.
"We saw that countries who lecture us on human rights and freedoms at every opportunity openly support those who massacred 35,000 Gazans," he said, citing figures from Gaza's Health Ministry. "We saw that those who said the right to protest was sacred until yesterday can't tolerate demonstrations that support Palestine."
