Israel urges citizens to leave Istanbul

Citing a possible attack by Iranian agents, Israel has called on all residents currently in Istanbul to leave the city as soon as possible and urged Israelis planning to travel to Turkey to refrain from doing so until further notice.

Turkey, and Istanbul specifically, are popular travel destinations for Israeli tourists due to their relative proximity to Israel and low cost.

Last week Israeli and Turkish intelligence forces reportedly foiled a plot to attack Israelis in Istanbul, including abducting or murdering them. According to reports, one hit squad behind the plot was apprehended but another remained at large.

The Islamic Republic has vowed to exact revenge following a series of recent attacks it blames on Israel, including the assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) colonel Hassan Sayad Khodayari in Tehran last month. Col Khodayari was deputy commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force Unit 840, the unit responsible for operations against Israeli and western targets outside of Iran.

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The ongoing shadow war between the countries focuses on sabotage attempts by Israel against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes, and Iranian efforts to spread its regional influence via Shia proxies.

Israel, which declines to claim responsibility for specific attacks inside Iran, has also been linked with the mysterious poisoning deaths of two IRGC aerospace division officers over the weekend, reportedly involved in arming Lebanon’s Hizbullah group.

A first travel warning for Turkey was issued two weeks ago in response to intelligence about plans to attack Israelis. On Monday the alert was raised to the highest level 4 for Istanbul; other areas of Turkey are at level 3, which is an intermediate level.

Channel 13 television news reported that Israeli security forces approached an Israeli woman who was walking through the markets in Istanbul, quickly ushered her into an armoured vehicle and put her on a flight back to Israel. Once home, she was told that Iranian agents had been waiting for her to return to her hotel to kidnap her.

Foreign minister Yair Lapid praised the Turkish authorities for co-operating in what he referred to as a major effort to save Israeli lives.

“Some have returned home without knowing that their lives were saved,” he said. “These terrorist actions are deliberately targeting Israeli civilians to either kidnap or to murder them. It could happen to anyone. Leave Istanbul immediately. If you planned a flight to Istanbul – cancel it. No vacation is worth your life.”

A spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, denied plans to target Israelis on Turkish soil. “The response to the Zionist entity will come when the time is right, and not via a third country,” he said.