![A big mural shows jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on April 16, 2023. [Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1251886854.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The families of Palestinian prisoners Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Saadat yesterday denied an Israeli media report claiming they had accepted an offer to exile them to Turkiye after their release from Israeli prisons as part of a prisoner exchange deal.
This comes after Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth claimed Hamas officials contacted the wives of both Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Saadat and asked them if they would agree for them to be exiled to Turkiye as a condition for their release them from prison within a prisoner swap deal, adding that the women “did not object” to the proposal.
However a Palestinian news site said the two families denied the Israeli report.
The Saadat family said in a brief statement: “We have not been contacted by any party regarding the release of our father or moving as a family to Turkiye as the Hebrew media is promoting.”
“As everyone knows, our father and mother are currently under arrest in Israeli prisons and there is no communication with them,” the family added.
The Israeli paper also claimed that Hamas sources have told the Ynet News site that “they are approaching the end of talks and reaching an agreement.”
Meanwhile, Omer Dostri, a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, also announced that progress had been made in the talks with Hamas, highlighting flexibility on the movement’s part. He added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prefers not to publish details of the talks.
Reuters had quoted an informed source as saying that an Israeli delegation had headed to the Qatari capital, Doha, to discuss the remaining issues of the ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli captives in the Strip.
For its part, Hamas described the talks as positive and said reaching a deal is possible if Israel stops setting new conditions, while the White House announced that concluding an agreement regarding the Gaza Strip is imminent.
Since 7 October 2023 Barghouti has been held in solitary confinement, and according to his lawyer, denied medical treatment sustained during beatings. He is serving five life sentences in Israeli prisons.
Palestinian MP Saadat was abducted by Israeli occupation forces from a Jericho jail before being sentenced to 30 years in prison in Israel.
Palestine: Fatah warns of Israel’s attempts to eliminate prisoner Marwan Barghouti