TEL AVIV: Israel said it killed three sons of Hamas’ supreme leader Ismail Haniyeh in an airstrike in Gaza, saying all the siblings belonged to the militant group’s armed wing.
Four of Haniyeh’s grandchildren also were killed in the attack as Hazem, Ameer and Mohammed Haniyeh were driving with the children near the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.
Ismail Haniyeh is originally from Shati.
Haniyeh, who lives in exile in Qatar, heard of the news while visiting wounded Palestinians who had been transported to a hospital in Doha.
He confirmed the deaths in an interview with the Al Jazeera satellite channel, saying his sons “were martyred on the road to liberating Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
“The criminal enemy is driven by the spirit of revenge and murder and does not value any standards or laws,” Haniyeh said.
His sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed so far in the six-month Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza.
The Israeli military described the three siblings as a cell commander and two military operatives.
The brothers were traveling with family members in a single vehicle targeted by an Israeli drone, Al-Aqsa TV said.
The grandchildren included a daughter of Hazem Haniyeh and a son and daughter of Ameer.
It was not immediately clear how their deaths might affect the monthslong cease-fire talks being brokered by international mediators, but Haniyeh said Hamas would not cave in to pressure.
“The enemy believes that by targeting the families of the leaders, it will push them to give up the demands of our people,” he said.
“Anyone who believes that targeting my sons will push Hamas to change its position is delusional.”
Hamas said Tuesday it was studying an Israeli cease-fire proposal but that it was “intransigent.”
Hamas has demanded that Israel withdraw all its troops from Gaza and end the war, which Israel has rejected.
(VOA)
Comment