Three of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh's sons and some of his grandchildren were killed on Wednesday, April 10, in an Israeli strike in Gaza, the Palestinian leader and Israel's military said, as war rages on after more than six months. "Today three of my sons, Hazem, Amir and Mohammad, and some of my grandchildren were martyred" in the strike on their car, the political head of the Palestinian militant group told Al Jazeera. According to the Qatari television network, a drone hit the family's car in the northern Gaza Strip's Al-Shati refugee camp. It said Haniyeh was visiting wounded Palestinians who were evacuated from Gaza to receive treatment at a hospital in Doha, when he received the news of the strike.
An Israeli military statement said its forces killed "three Hamas operatives" who were "on their way to carry out terrorist activities" in central Gaza, identifying them as Amir, Mohammad and Hazem Haniyeh. "The IDF (Israeli army) confirms that the operatives are three of Ismail Haniyeh's children," the statement said, adding that they were members of Hamas's military wing.
Several media reports and Hamas statements gave varying death tolls for the strike. Agence France-Presse (AFP) images showed Palestinians in Gaza City inspecting the badly damaged and charred vehicle.
The Hamas leader reacted saying "the (Israeli) occupation believes(...) it will break the determination of our people" by targeting leaders of the movements and their relatives. He added that the deadly strike would fail to force Hamas's hand in negotiations toward a truce and hostage release. "If they (Israel) think that targeting my children(...) at the peak of these talks and before the movement's response, if they think that this will force Hamas to change its positions, they are delusional," he added. "The blood of my children is not more precious than the blood of the Palestinian people," he said. "We will not back down on our demands," he added.
Haniyeh also told Al Jazeera that, in total, nearly "60 members of my family have been martyred, including my grandchildren, my brother's sons, my sister's sons and my cousins."