Haniyeh family denies reports relatives left Gaza after Turkish request
The family of late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh denied on Wednesday reports that some of their relatives had been allowed to leave the Gaza Strip at Turkey’s request.
"Absolutely no one from the Haniyeh family has left," said Abdul Salam Haniyeh, the late leader’s eldest son, in a statement to Middle East Eye.
"No one has left yet, and there are no arrangements in place for that or even a discussion about it.”
Middle East Eye reported on Monday that Israel had permitted at least 66 Palestinians and Turkish citizens to leave Gaza earlier this month following a request from the Turkish government.
While some of them were cited by sources as sharing the same family name, Abdul Salam Haniyeh said that none of the late Hamas leader's relatives had left, or intend to leave.
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“The news is incorrect and is intended to cause confusion,” he added.
Fourteen Turkish citizens and 40 close relatives of Turkish nationals, including spouses, children, parents, and other immediate family members, were allowed to leave under a bilateral arrangement between Israel and Turkey, the sources said.
The reported deal followed a Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in early October, facilitated in part by Turkey.
Turkey maintained longstanding contact with Ismail Haniyeh, who led Hamas’s political bureau until he was assassinated by Israel in Tehran in July 2024.
An Israeli decision to allow Haniyeh’s relatives to leave Gaza would be particularly surprising, given that the Israeli military killed three of his sons and four of his grandchildren in an April 2024 air strike on their car in Gaza.
Around the same time, Israel also arrested Haniyeh’s sister, Sabah al-Salem Haniyeh, who was living in the southern Israeli town of Tel Sheva.
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