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Three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza on Wednesday, a senior Israeli diplomatic official confirmed.
The official said that all three sons were part of Hamas’s military wing and that Israel is ready to go after any member of Hamas involved in violence.
Initially the attack was reported by the Hamas-affiliated news agency Shehab, with The Jerusalem Post also receiving indirect confirmation, before the senior diplomatic official confirmed.
Likewise, 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.
Haniyeh himself 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
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.
Dozens of other relatives reportedly killed in 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.
Separately, Israeli Air Force fighter jets conducted retaliatory strikes on rocket attack cells in the Gaza Strip which had fired near Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
The launch was identified from Jabalia toward Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Tuesday, which was intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array. In response, an IAF fighter jet struck the compound and launcher from which the rocket was fired.
Meanwhile, the Nahal Brigade continued operations in central Gaza and killed an unspecified number of terrorists, but likely around single digits.
In addition, a number of rockets were fired at IDF troops operating in the area of Shejaiya in northern Gaza. In response, an IAF fighter jet located and destroyed the launcher.
Furthermore, an IAF aircraft also struck a separate Hamas terrorist cell that posed a threat to IDF troops operating in the Shejaiya area.
The air force also struck dozens of additional terror targets in Gaza, including military sites, launchers, tunnel shafts, and infrastructure.
Hezbollah also fired a small number of rockets into Israel without reported damage as well as possibly sending in an attack drone with no damage.
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