On April 10, 2024, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed the killings of three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a recent airstrike on Gaza Strip. Taking to X, the IDF claimed that Haniyeh’s three sons, Amir, Hazem and Mohammed were struck while they were enroute to carry out terror activity in the area of Central Gaza.
Even Ismail Haniyeh in an interview with West Asian media agency channel claimed that three of his four 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,” he said in a phone interview.
“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 adding that “Anyone who believes that targeting my sons will push Hamas to change its position is delusional, he said.
Ismail Haniyeh lives in Qatar (in exile). The Israeli airstrike occurred near the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City where Haniyeh is originally from. According to the IDF, Amir Haniyeh one of the four sons of Ismail was a squad commander in the Hamas military wing while Hazem and Mohammad were lower ranking operatives.
Meanwhile, the Al-Aqsa TV station under Hamas control claimed that the brothers were traveling with family members in a single vehicle targeted by an Israeli drone and it said that six people were killed including a daughter of Ismail Haniyeh and the son and daughter of Ameer, the TVs station added.
The recent strikes in Gaza came amid the low-key celebrations of Eid-al-Fitr holiday with several scores of Palestinians ending the holy fasting month of Ramadan and visiting the grave of loved ones killed in the war which started on October 7, 2023.
Earlier in the day, the US President Joe Biden termed Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu handling of the war in Gaza as a mistake and urged him to provide aid to the beleaguered territory. Israel and Hamas engaged in talks meant to bring about a ceasefire in exchange for the release of the hostages captured by Hamas and others.
According to Gaza Health Ministry, over 33,400 Palestinians have been killed in rigorous fighting with most of the dead and deceased including women and children. Many critical infrastructures of Hamas mainly hospitals have been brutally destroyed in offensive airstrikes by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
