3 grandchildren also die; Qatar-based terror chief tells Al Jazeera he thanks ‘God for bestowing upon us the honor of their martyrdom,’ confirming deaths
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday that three of his sons had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City’s Shati camp earlier that day, confirming an earlier Al Jazeera report on the matter.
The three sons — Hazem, Amir and Mohammad — were killed after the car they were driving in was struck in Shati, Hamas said. Two of Haniyeh’s grandchildren were also killed in the attack and a third was wounded, Hamas media said.
There was no immediate comment from the IDF on the strike. A defense official told Walla news: “Haniyeh’s three sons were operatives in Hamas’s military wing and we are determined to eliminate all Hamas operatives.”
The political leader of Hamas, who is largely based in Qatar, confirmed their deaths in comments to Al Jazeera, telling the news outlet that he “thank[s] God for bestowing upon us the honor of their martyrdom.”
In a phone interview broadcast on the TV network, the terror leader vowed that the group will not surrender, and that such actions will not make it change its goals and its demands in hostage release talks.
“Our demands are clear and specific and we will not make concessions on them. 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,” he told the TV station, adding that “the blood of my sons is not dearer than the blood of our people.”
A video circulating online purports to show the moment Haniyeh is told of his sons deaths while visiting a hospital in Qatar. He calmly praises God and then suggests the tour continue on to the next room. It is not clear whether the video was genuine or staged.
Haniyeh added that nearly 60 members of his family had been “martyred” in the war, and that he has paid the same price as the rest of the Palestinian people.
His eldest son confirmed in a Facebook post that his three brothers were killed. “Thanks to God who honored us by the martyrdom of my brothers, Hazem, Amir and Mohammad and their children,” wrote Abdel-Salam Haniyeh.
Al Jazeera reported that the three men were struck by a missile launched from a drone as they were traveling in a car on their way to congratulate relatives and acquaintances on the occasion of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which began Tuesday evening.
Appointed to head the terror group in 2017, Haniyeh has moved between Turkey and Qatar’s capital Doha, and has emerged as the most prominent negotiator in the latest ongoing round of talks for a truce and hostage release deal. Israel sent a delegation to talks in Cairo this week, while Hamas representatives have also been in the Egyptian capital for negotiations.
While some officials have expressed optimism that a deal could be reached after months of stalled talks, so far Hamas appears to be sticking to its demand that the war end before it agrees to release any of the hostages the terror group kidnapped from Israel on October 7 who are still being held in the Strip. Israel has outright rejected such a demand.
Thousands of Hamas terrorists poured across the border with Israel in a mass assault on October 7, killing close to 1,200 people, and kidnapping 253 to Gaza. During a weeklong truce in late November, 105 of the hostages were released, four were freed earlier and three have been rescued alive by troops, while the bodies of 12 hostages have been recovered. The IDF believes that 129 of those kidnapped remain in the Strip, including at least 34 bodies.
During Israel’s ensuing war against Hamas in Gaza, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 33,000 people have been killed in the fighting, an unverified figure that includes some 13,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has killed in battle. Since the IDF ground invasion began, 260 IDF soldiers have been killed in the fighting.
Last week, Haniyeh said that the terror group was not prepared to budge on any of the conditions it had previously laid out, saying in a televised speech that “we are committed to our demands: the permanent ceasefire, comprehensive and complete withdrawal of the enemy out of the Gaza Strip, the return of all displaced people to their homes, allowing all aid needed for our people in Gaza, rebuilding the Strip, lifting the blockade and achieving an honorable prisoner exchange deal.”
Earlier this month, police in Israel arrested Haniyeh’s sister, an Israeli citizen living in Tel Sheva. Three of the Hamas leader’s sisters live in the southern town and were married to Arab Israelis. Two are now widowed and have fallen foul of Israeli authorities in the past by making illegal trips into Gaza in 2013 via Egypt. They were both given eight-month suspended sentences for the visits in 2015. Later that year, Israel denied Haniyeh’s request that his sisters be permitted to attend his son’s wedding in Gaza.
_TOI