ANKARA: Israel鈥檚 Ambassador to Turkiye, Irit Lillian, said on Sunday it was too early to talk about mediation offers between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas, adding the attacks showed that Hamas should not have any presence in Turkiye or elsewhere.
On Saturday, Hamas launched an attack against Israel, for which Israel vowed 鈥渕ighty vengeance鈥� in response. Hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis have been killed, in what Israel has said is a war.
In an online briefing with journalists after Turkiye said it was in contact with all parties and stood ready to de-escalate, Lillian said Israel鈥檚 priority was its response to the attack.
鈥淢ediation comes at a different point of time. Right now, we are unfortunately counting the dead, we are trying to heal the wounded, we don鈥檛 even know what is the number of the citizens abducted,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e want to see all the abducted people coming home and we want quiet and calmness coming back to Israel and the region,鈥� she added. 鈥淎fter that, we can talk about mediation and who are going to be the players in this mediation.鈥�
The conflict comes as Turkiye, which has backed Palestinians in the past, hosted members of Hamas, and supported a two-state solution to the conflict, works to repair ties with Israel after years of animosity.
Ankara does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

HAMAS PRESENCE IN TURKEY
Asked about the presence of Hamas members in Turkiye, Lillian said a senior member of the Islamist group, Saleh Al-Arouri, was sometimes seen at events in Turkiye, and added he should be tried for crimes against humanity.
鈥淚 think it just strengthens our point that Hamas should not have an office or any kind of activity, neither in Turkiye nor anywhere else in the world,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is no place for terrorists to direct or command acts from any country in the world.鈥�
The Turkish foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the presence of Hamas officials in Turkiye.
On Sunday, Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus, while repeating Ankara鈥檚 earlier call for restraint, said Palestinians had long suffered from injustices, namely on Jerusalem鈥檚 Al-Aqsa mosque which he labelled a 鈥渞ed line.鈥�
Lillian said Israel had expected more empathy from Turkiye, a country that has suffered from militant attacks for decades, but added 鈥済ood constructive鈥� dialogue between the countries in 鈥渢he day after鈥� would shed light on the fate of the rapprochement.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a little bit hard to say,鈥� Lillian said, when asked if ties would be affected, adding that some comments from Ankara were 鈥渟urprising.鈥�
鈥淚 think the relations of Israel and Turkiye which started a process of warm-up should not be affected by yesterday鈥檚 attack and by the ongoing war against terrorism,鈥� she added.
She also said the Israeli embassy was in touch with Turkish authorities regarding threats, and calls for demonstrations and violence.