The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) aims to open an office in Turkey within weeks, the agency's Commissioner-General Phillipe Lazzarini said on Thursday in Ankara.
At a news conference, Lazzarini said the agency signed the final agreement with the Turkish government for the office and is very pleased that it will have a permanent presence in the country.
The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution demanding that Israel cooperate with UNRWA by a majority of 139 countries on December 12.
This came after Reuters revealed the previous week that the Trump administration wanted to impose sanctions on UNRWA due to its “connections to terrorism.”
On December 31, Israel passed new legislation to cut off electricity, water, and communications from UNRWA facilities, in a move the United Nations body has called “outrageous.”
Hamas maintains close relationship with Ankara
Hamas and Turkey have maintained close ties in recent years.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, on December 24, met with Hamas political bureau officials in Ankara to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza and advancing the agreement to its second phase, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said at the time.
The source said the Hamas officials told Fidan that they had fulfilled their requirements as part of the ceasefire deal, but that Israel's continued targeting of Gaza aimed to prevent the agreement from moving to the next phase.
The Hamas members also said humanitarian aid entering Gaza was not sufficient, and that goods like medication, equipment for housing, and fuel were needed, the source added.
This followed Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Turkey's intelligence agency MIT, meeting senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya on December 20. The two discussed plans for progressing the ceasefire agreement, Turkish security sources said.
In particular, the two discussed how to prevent, what they called, "Israel's ceasefire violations."
Idan Kweller and Mathilda Heller contributed to this report.