The Palestinian who broke into the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv and tried to take hostages was a former Israeli informer who was seeking political asylum, his lawyer claimed yesterday .

Avital Horev said his client, Nadim Injaz, who was born in the West Bank city of Ramallah, was wanted by the Palestinian Authority for collaborating with Israel.

Mr Injaz was shot and wounded late on Tuesday after breaking into the Turkish mission and attempting to take a hostage in a bungled attempt to seek asylum.

In an official statement from Ankara, the Turkish foreign ministry said he had climbed to the first storey of the embassy and forced his way in, armed with a knife, a jerry can and a toy gun. No-one from the embassy was hurt.

Israeli medical sources said Mr Injaz had sustained light injuries after being shot in the leg.

He was taken to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital, where his lawyer visited him overnight.

“During the 1990s and the early part of this decade, he stopped Palestinian attacks, saving many lives of both soldiers and Israeli citizens, but the Shin Bet, from whom he asked for protection, refused to recognise its responsibility towards him,” Mr Horev told public radio.

But Shin Bet denied having anything to do with him, with a spokeswoman saying Mr Injaz “never worked for us” and that his case was being dealt with by the police.

Mr Injaz was detained inside the embassy, which is sovereign Turkish territory, and was later handed over to the Israelis. It was not immediately clear on what charges he was being held.