Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan is bypassing Hamas-controlled Gaza on his way to visit Egypt next week.
A government spokesperson, responding to news reports that Erdogan would visit de facto Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, said the timing is not right.
Erdogan has been overtly pro-Hamas, even declaring that it is not a terrorist organization. He has quickly moved away from once-friendly relations with Israel during the past three years and has created a diplomatic alliance with Syria and Iran.
Following conclusions by a committee appointed by the United Nations to report on the flotilla clash last year between Turkish-based terrorist activists and the IDF Navy, Erdogan chilled relations with Israel even further.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has refused Erdogan's demands that Israel apologize for the incident, while Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said that it is Turkey that should request forgiveness.
The Palmer Report on the flotilla clash stated that Israel’s maritime blockade on Hamas in Gaza is totally legal, a conclusion that sparked reports that Erdogan would stop off in Gaza, through the Rafiah land crossing, in a protest visit.
An anonymous Israel spokesman told Channel 2 Sunday night that if Erdogan were to visit Gaza, he would harm relations between Turkey and the United States, which has outlawed Hamas as a terrorist organization.