Israeli airstrike on moving vehicle kills Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s 3 sons, 3 grandkids
Three sons and three grandchildren of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza Wednesday, according to the family.
Haniyeh, 62, confirmed the deaths Wednesday in an interview with Al Jazeera, saying his sons — Hazem, Amir and Mohammad Haniyeh — “were martyred on the road to liberating Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Haniyeh’s children and grandchildren were traveling in a car through Gaza’s Shati refugee camp to visit family on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Fitr when it was struck by a missile.
Haniyeh’s eldest son, who was unharmed, commented on the killings of his brothers, nieces and nephews in a Facebook post.
“Thanks to God who honored us by the martyrdom of my brothers, Hazem, Amir and Mohammad and their children,” wrote Abdel-Salam Haniyeh.
The Israeli military confirmed carrying out the airstrike Wednesday, saying Haniyeh’s sons were all operatives of Hamas’ armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.
It did not comment on any other casualties.
“The criminal enemy is driven by the spirit of revenge and murder and does not value any standards or laws,” Haniyeh, who lives in exile in Qatar where Al Jazeera is based, told the outlet in a phone interview.
The Palestinian politician insisted that the deaths of six of his family members would not pressure Hamas into making concessions on their “clear and specific demands” amid the ongoing cease-fire talks with Israel.
“The enemy will be delusional if it thinks that targeting my sons, at the climax of the negotiations and before the movement sends its response, will push Hamas to change its position,” a defiant Haniyeh said.
“The blood of my sons is not dearer than the blood of our people,” he added.
Appointed to Hamas’ top political post in 2017, Haniyeh left Gaza in 2019 and has moved between Turkey and Qatar, acting as the terrorist group’s chief diplomat and tough-talking negotiator.
The supreme Hamas leader in Gaza is Yehya Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war, now in its seventh month.
With Post wires
