An Israeli Air Force strike in the Al-Shati Camp on the northern Gaza coast killed six relatives of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Wednesday night.
“An Air Force aircraft, acting on the intelligence guidance of the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Shin Bet, attacked three military operatives of the Hamas terrorist organization on their way to carry out terror activities in the central Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a post on X.
Hazem, Ameer and Mohammed Haniyeh were all members of Hamas. Ismail Haniyeh reportedly had 13 children.
Wednesday’s strike, which reportedly targeted a vehicle, also killed three of Haniyeh’s grandchildren, according to Gaza’s Hamas-affiliated Shehab News Agency.
The Doha-based terror leader confirmed their deaths, telling Qatar’s Al Jazeera, “I thank God for this honor that he bestowed upon us with the martyrdom of my three sons and some grandchildren.”
A video circulating on social media showed the Hamas leader receiving the news while visiting wounded Palestinians from Gaza at a Doha hospital.
In October, Hamas claimed that an airstrike in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood killed 14 relatives of Haniyeh. The terrorist leader’s brother and nephew died in the alleged strike, reports said.
Haniyeh’s sisters are Israeli citizens and live in a Bedouin town in the Negev. Earlier this month, Israeli security forces arrested one of them on suspicion of associating with and supporting Palestinian terrorists.
Haniyeh’s niece gave birth to a premature baby in February, who was treated at the neonatal intensive care unit at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva.
