Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz announced on Friday that he had instructed officials in his ministry to summon the Turkish deputy ambassador to Israel for a "reprimand session" in protest of the lowering of the Turkish flag on the roof of the embassy building in Tel Aviv, in mourning for the martyrdom of the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh.

This came after the lowering of the Turkish flag on the roof of the embassy building in Tel Aviv sparked widespread anger in the Israeli street and media, noting that the Israeli Foreign Ministry was not aware of the incident before the Israeli media reported it, while Turkey lowered its flags in the country and in its missions abroad in mourning for Haniyeh.

A statement issued by the Israeli Foreign Minister said, "Katz ordered the summoning of the Turkish Deputy Ambassador to Israel to issue him a severe reprimand, after the Turkish flag was lowered to half-mast at the Turkish embassy in Israel, against the backdrop of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the terrorist Hamas movement," according to his expression.

The statement quoted Katz as saying that "Israel will not accept the mourning of Ismail Haniyeh, who was the head of the Hamas movement, who committed the rape and murder on October 7, and who prayed a prayer of thanks with his friends and wished the killers well against the backdrop of the horrific images he saw on television," according to his allegations.

"If the embassy representatives want to mourn, let them go to Turkey and mourn with their master Erdogan, who embraces the terrorist organization Hamas and supports the killings and atrocities it commits," he added.

For his part, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said, "The lowering of the Turkish flag shows exactly how they view us. The Turkish ambassador is invited to lower the flag completely and return to his country. I call on the foreign minister and the prime minister to summon the Turkish ambassador for a hearing in preparation for his expulsion from Israel," noting that the Turkish ambassador had returned to Ankara following the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

In turn, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan offered his condolences to the leaders of the Hamas movement in the Qatari capital, Doha, over the assassination of the head of the movement's political bureau. The Turkish Foreign Minister had arrived in Doha to participate in Haniyeh's funeral, heading a high-level Turkish delegation.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a post on Twitter that "Minister Fidan offered his condolences to the acting head of Hamas's political bureau, Khaled Meshaal." It added that Ismail Haniyeh's sons, Abdul Salam and Humam, also attended Fidan and Meshaal's meeting in Doha, where the Turkish minister arrived to participate in the funeral ceremony of the head of Hamas' political bureau?