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Israeli air strike in Gaza kills 3 sons and 4 grandchildren of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh

  • Targeted strike comes as Israel, Hamas are involved in delicate ceasefire negotiations
  • Israel’s military campaign continues to lay waste to the Gaza Strip and kill civilians

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The car in which three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh were reportedly killed. Photo: AFP

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh insisted that the death of three of his sons in an Israeli air strike would not influence truce talks in Gaza.

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The Israeli military confirmed carrying out the attack on Wednesday, which came amid delicate ceasefire negotiations. Israel described the three sons as operatives in the Hamas armed wing.

The sons – Hazem, Amir and Mohammad – were killed when the car they were driving in was bombed in Gaza’s Al-Shati camp, Hamas said. Four of Haniyeh’s grandchildren, three girls and a boy, were also killed in the attack, Hamas said.

Asked about the four grandchildren killed in the air strike, the Israeli military said there was “no information on that right now”.

Ismail Haniyeh in Iran last month. File photo: WANA via Reuters
Ismail Haniyeh in Iran last month. File photo: WANA via Reuters

Haniyeh, based abroad in Qatar, has been the tough-talking face of Hamas’ international diplomacy as war with Israel has raged on in Gaza, where his family home was destroyed in an Israeli air strike back in November.

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