According to the Palestinian Islamist group and Ismail Haniyeh's family, three of his sons, who lead Hamas, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
The three sons were identified as Hamas armed wing operatives by the Israeli military, which verified the attack's execution.
Hazem, Amir, and Muhammad, the three sons, perished when the car they were driving in Gaza's Al-Shati camp was bombed, according to Hamas. According to Hamas, the attack claimed the lives of Haniyeh's four grandchildren, three of whom were girls and one boy.
Asked about the four grandchildren killed in the airstrike, the Israeli military said there was "no information on that right now."
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Based in Qatar, Haniyeh has served as the tough-talking spokesperson for Hamas in international diplomacy. At the same time, the conflict with Israel rages in Gaza, the same region where an Israeli airstrike back in November destroyed his family's home.
"The blood of my sons is not dearer than the blood of our people," Haniyeh, 61, stated to pan-Arab Al Jazeera TV. According to Hamas sources, he has 13 sons and daughters.
According to relatives, on the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, the three sons and four grandchildren spent time with each other in Shati, their home refugee camp in Gaza City.
In the more than six-month-old Gaza conflict, Hamas announced on Tuesday that it was examining an Israeli ceasefire proposal but that it was "intransigent." It did not satisfy any of the Palestinian demands.
"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," Haniyeh said.
Amid a seven-month conflict that has seen Israel's air and ground assault decimate Gaza, Hamas demands an end to Israeli military activity, an evacuation from the enclave, and the ability of Palestinians who have been internally displaced to return home.
The oldest son of Haniyeh verified his three brothers' deaths on Facebook. "Thanks to God who honoured us by the martyrdom of my brothers, Hazem, Amir and Mohammad and their children," said Abdel-Salam Haniyeh.
Since being appointed to the top position within the militant group in 2017, Haniyeh has traveled back and forth between Turkey and Doha, the capital of Qatar, to avoid being restricted from leaving blockaded Gaza. This has allowed him to participate in the most recent ceasefire negotiations and maintain contact with Iran, Hamas' principal ally.
Israel accuses Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders of continuing to "pull the strings of the Hamas terror organization" and views the entire Hamas leadership as terrorists.
However, it's unclear how much Haniyeh was aware of the militants based in Gaza's Oct. 7 cross-border attack on Israel in advance. The attack plan was formulated by the Hamas military council in Gaza and was kept so secret that its timing and scope appeared surprising to some Hamas officials overseas.
