Israeli army admits to killing 3 sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh

By Zain Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army admitted Wednesday that it killed three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an airstrike that targeted a car in the Gaza Strip.

It claimed that the victims were members of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and were on their way to carry out “a terrorist activity.”

“An intelligence-guided drone belonging to the air force earlier today targeted, based on military intelligence from the Aman and Shin Bet, 3 military activists affiliated with Hamas while heading to carry out a terrorist activity in central Gaza,” the army wrote on X.

“The three individuals who were targeted are: Amir Haniyeh, a cell leader in the military wing of Hamas, Mohammed Haniyeh, a military activist in the organization, and Hazem Haniyeh, another military activist in the organization,” it said.

The Israeli broadcasting authority said political leadership, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant, “was not informed in advance” about the assassination operation that killed three of Haniyeh's sons and some of his grandchildren.

It claimed Netanyahu and Galant “discuss the assassination operations of high-ranking Palestinian leaders and approve them, while the assassination of leaders and individuals at lower levels is carried out based on the army's decision.”

Three of Haniyeh's sons and several grandchildren were killed Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike in the Al-Shati refugee camp while they were visiting residents and relatives for Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Witnesses told Anadolu that the airstrike “completely destroyed the car, resulting in the killing and injuring of everyone inside it.”

Medical sources told Anadolu that the strike resulted in the killing of Haniyeh's three sons -- Hazem, Amir and Mohammed, and a number of their sons, in addition to injuring others.

The Gaza Media Office accused the Israeli army of committing a “massacre” against Haniyeh's family during a round of social and family visits for Eid al-Fitr.

It emphasized that “this crime comes as a continuation of a series of ongoing occupation crimes against civilians, children, and women despite the sacred atmosphere of Eid al-Fitr.”

Israel has waged a military offensive against Gaza that has killed nearly 33,500 victims since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, which killed less than 1,200. It has also imposed a crippling blockade on the seaside enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while much of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has urged Israel to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala​​​​​​​