Ankara, Oct 20 (IANS) Israel has reportedly withdrawn all of its diplomatic personnel from Turkey for “security reasons” against the backdrop of the deadly Israel-Hamas conflict.
“All Israeli personnel from diplomatic missions in Turkey have been withdrawn for security reasons,” two informed diplomatic sources, who declined to be named, were quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
The Israeli National Security Council issued a travel advisory on Tuesday to Israeli citizens in Turkey, urging them to leave as quickly as possible.
Since a blast at a Gaza hospital caused heavy casualties on Tuesday, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across Turkey, with some protests flaring up outside Israeli diplomatic missions in both Istanbul and the capital Ankara.
At least 471 Palestinians were killed in the blast at the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night, the Gaza-based Health Ministry revealed on Wednesday. Hamas said that Israel carried out an airstrike on the hospital, while Israel said a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) caused the blast.
On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli military targets and towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, prompting extensive Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
Some 1,300 people in Israel were killed in the attacks launched by Hamas. Meanwhile, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said the death toll of Palestinians since Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza had hit 3,478.