According to an Al Jazeera report on April 10 local time, the family of Hamas's supreme leader Ismail Haniyeh, including 3 sons and 3 grandchildren (2 girls and 1 boy), was killed in an attack in the northern Gaza Strip, while another granddaughter was injured but survived and is currently in hospital.
This information was confirmed by Chanih himself, as well as by Hamas.
Haniah's three sons, Hazim, Amir and Mohammed, were driving with their children across the "Shati refugee camp" in Gaza to visit their families on the first day of Eid al-Fitr, but unfortunately they were attacked by missiles on the way.
The eldest brother of the three men, Abdul-Salam Haniah, who was not injured (it is not clear whether he was in the car), took to social media to comment on the death of his brothers, nephews and nieces, saying that their martyrdom "gives us glory." ”
Haniyeh, 62, is the overall political leader of Hamas and is now the chairman of Hamas' Politburo, while there is evidence that he has moved to Qatar since last year.
It is reported that on October 7, when Hamas carried out a raid on Israel, the Haniyeers were in Istanbul, Turkey. Three days later, he claimed that Hamas would not consider releasing any Israeli hostages. Just about a week later, Turkey denied sending Chanih "politely away," but Chaniah did appear in Qatar.
As for whether his three sons who were killed also live in Qatar, there is no definite news yet.
However, this is not the first time that Haniyeh has lost his family, and he himself claims that about 60 of his family members have been killed since the start of his new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
In response to this tragedy, Haniyeh, who is in Qatar, said, "My sons have been awarded this honor. They stayed in Gaza with our Palestinian people, did not leave, did not run away,"
In addition, he said that the death of a loved one would not soften Hamas's position on the ceasefire talks, and that "our demands are clear and specific, and we will not make concessions to them." If the enemy thinks that targeting my son will force Hamas to change its position, it is delusional," Haniyeh said, "and my son's blood is no more precious than the blood of our people." ”
Videos on social media showed Chania learning of her sons' deaths while visiting a hospital in Qatar. He calmly praised Allah and then advised the others to move on. But the authenticity of the video is uncertain.
The Israeli side also responded to the death of the family of Hamas's top leader.
The IDF and the "Simbet" (Israeli National Security Service) confirmed the killing of the three after a release by Al Jazeera, saying that they were Hamas agents.
According to the IDF and Simbert, Amir is the squad leader of the Hamas military department, while Hazim and Mohammed are low-level agents of the military department. "The three were on their way to carry out terrorist activities in central Gaza when they were attacked," the IDF said.
According to Hebrew media reports, the attack on Chaniyeh's three sons was approved by a colonel of the IDF's Southern Command and was not discussed in advance in the wartime cabinet, and Israel is still waiting for Hamas's official response to the latest hostage-trading proposal, despite the sensitive timing.