Three sons of Hamas leader leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza, Hamas-affiliated news agency Shehab said on Wednesday.
The Iranian-aligned Lebanese outlet al-Mayadeen reported, citing Palestinian sources, that the strike had also killed several of Haniyeh’s grandchildren, and that they had been killed in a vehicle in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.
Israeli media reported that Haniyeh had later confirmed that three of his sons and three of his grandchildren had been killed in the strike.
“All of Gaza’s citizens paid a price with the blood of their children, including me,” he was cited as saying.
That area has been under IDF control for several months. Israel last week withdrew its forces from southern Gaza, and has not yet launched a promised operation in the city of Rafah, believed to be Hamas’s last stronghold in the strip.
Haniyeh, the chairman of Hamas’s Political Bureau, lives in Qatar, alongside other members of Hamas’s political leadership.
The group’s leader inside of Gaza is Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be hiding in southern Gaza, surrounded by Israeli hostages.
More than a dozen other relatives reported killed during war
An airstrike in October reportedly killed 14 other members of Haniyeh’s family, including his brother and nephew; his granddaughter Roaa Haniyeh was also reportedly killed by the IDF, as was his oldest grandson, Jamal. In February, Palestinian sources reported that Haniyeh’s son, Hazem Haniyeh, had also been killed.
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