Exclusive: Israel allows Haniyeh family members to leave Gaza after Turkish request middleeasteye.net

Click to Donate

Every dollar goes to help the people of Palestine

Israel allowed at least 66 Palestinians and Turkish citizens to leave the Gaza Strip earlier this month following a request from Turkey, Middle East Eye has learned. The group included 16 members of the late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s family.

Fourteen Turkish citizens and 40 close relatives of Turkish citizens, including spouses, sons, fathers and mothers, were released as part of a bilateral arrangement between Israel and Turkey, according to two separate sources.

The decision followed a Gaza ceasefire agreement reached in the first week of October, in which Turkey played a mediating role by helping to bring Hamas to the negotiating table.

Five of the 16 Haniyeh family members were relatives of Turkish citizens.

Turkey maintained longstanding contacts with Haniyeh, who headed Hamas’ political bureau until Israel assassinated him in July 2024 in Tehran.

Although Turkey does not host an official Hamas office, the movement's leaders frequently travel between Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and Lebanon, sometimes staying in Turkey for months.

The Telegraph reported in 2020 that Turkey had granted citizenship to several Hamas leaders, including Haniyeh.

Israel’s decision to allow members of Haniyeh's family to leave is particularly surprising given that its 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.

Sources familiar with Israeli government thinking believe that Israel’s decision reflects an effort to ease tensions with Turkey by responding positively to Ankara’s diplomatic requests.

Moves to ease tensions with Turkey
Since the Gaza ceasefire, media reports in Israel citing anonymous Israeli officials have taken a noticeably softer tone toward Turkey’s senior leadership.

The right-wing outlet Ynet praised Turkish intelligence chief İbrahim Kalin for being “empathetic to hostages” and for seeking “renewed ties with Israel”.

Israeli journalist Ben Caspit, writing earlier this month in Maariv, noted that Israel appears to be looking ahead.

“While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long been a vehement critic of Israel, his potential successor, former intelligence chief and current Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, is viewed in Israeli security circles as more pragmatic,” he wrote.

In a separate Maariv article published on Sunday, Uriel Lynn, president of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, argued that it is time for Israel to reach out to Erdogan, calling Turkey “key to the day after in Gaza”.

“Turkey is not an enemy of Israel. We have had many years of fruitful trade, economic and tourism relations,” Lynn wrote.

“Three years ago, during my tenure as president of the Chambers of Commerce, we organised a large business delegation of 65 Israeli companies to visit Turkey. The reception was warm – some 20 media outlets interviewed us positively. This may not be a representative sample, but such treatment would be impossible in a hostile country.”

He added that Israeli foreign policy should be guided by prudence rather than by ministers seeking “childish prominence”, and praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for maintaining restraint in this regard.

“One of the real tests of our new foreign policy will be restoring relations with Turkey,” Lynn concluded.

“This is essential both for stabilising our regional geopolitical environment and for advancing our economic interests.”