TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) – An Israeli plane killed three sons of Hamas's top political leader in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing one another as Israel negotiates a delicate ceasefire with the extremist group. Eight targets were attacked. Hamas said four of its leader's grandchildren were also killed.
Ismail Haniya His sons are among the most high-profile people killed in war to date. Israel claims they are Hamas operatives, and Haniya accused Israel of acting in a “spirit of revenge and murder.”
The deaths threaten to strain internationally brokered ceasefire talks, which appeared to be gaining momentum in recent days, even though the two countries remain far apart on key issues.
Killings also occur when Israel is under control intensification of pressure -We are increasingly being called upon by our greatest ally, the United States, to change the course of the war, especially when it comes to providing humanitarian aid to the desperate people of Gaza.
Haniya said Hamas would not bow to pressure from attacks on his family.
“The enemy believes that by targeting the leader's family, he can be induced to abandon the demands of the people,” Haniyeh told Al Jazeera satellite broadcaster. “Anyone who believes that targeting my sons will encourage Hamas to change his position is delusional.”
Hamas' al-Aqsa television station aired footage of Haniyeh hearing the news of his death on the phone from a close aide while visiting an injured Palestinian in hospital. qatar, he lives in exile. Haniya nodded, looked down at the ground, and slowly walked out of the room.
Al-Aqsa TV said Hazem, Ameer and Mohamed Haniyeh were killed in a strike near Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, where Ismail Haniyeh was from. Hamas said three of Haniya's granddaughters and one grandson were also killed. Hamas does not reveal his age.
According to Al-Aqsa TV, the brothers were traveling with their family in a vehicle and were targeted by Israeli drones.
The Israeli military said Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Hazem were Hamas military operatives, and Mr. Amer was a cell commander. He did not provide details, but said he carried out extremist activities in the central Gaza Strip. He did not comment on his slain grandchildren.
The attack on Haniya's family is the latest bloodshed in an endless war.
Former Israeli War Minister benny gantz While Hamas claims to have been defeated militarily, Israel says it will fight Hamas for years to come.
“From a military perspective, Hamas has been defeated. Its fighters have been eliminated or are in hiding,” Gantz said in a statement to the media in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, adding that its capabilities had been “crippled.” I'm depressed,” he said.
However, “the fight against Hamas will take time. The boys, now in middle school, will continue to fight in the Gaza Strip.”
Gantz reiterated the Israeli government's commitment to access Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip. Rafah is currently home to more than half of the territory's 2.3 million people.
For Palestinians, the attack on Haniya's family made an already difficult situation even darker. Eid al-Fitr The holiday marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. Palestinians celebrated this holiday by visiting the graves of loved ones killed in the war. In the Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City, people sat silently next to a grave surrounded by buildings destroyed by an Israeli offensive launched in response to the deadly Hamas attack on October 7.
As the dire situation in the Gaza Strip drags on, Israel is under increasing pressure, including from its biggest ally, the United States, to change its course on the war, particularly when it comes to providing humanitarian aid.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the Gaza war was a mistake and called on the government to flood the besieged region with aid. He reiterated his call on Wednesday, saying increased aid efforts were “not enough” and calling for new entry points for trucks into northern Gaza.
Gantz said Israel would soon open a new crossing to serve hard-hit northern Gaza, which was an early target of the war.
After months of supporting a war with Hamas, the White House has increased pressure on Israel to reach a cease-fire, taking a tough stance that undermines the two countries' decades-long alliance and deepens their relationship. Israel's international isolation Beyond the war.
The most serious disagreement is over Israel's plan to attack Rafah. The rift worsened last week when Israeli forces bombed a support convoy, killing seven members. world central kitchen It is a charity organization and most of its members are foreigners.Israel is dead not intentionalbut Biden was furious.
Biden's latest comments highlight differences between Israel and the United States over humanitarian aid to people in the Gaza Strip, where more than 1 million people are threatened with impending starvation due to the war.
“What he's doing is wrong. I don't agree with his approach,” Biden told Spanish-language broadcaster Univision that Netanyahu was putting his own political survival ahead of Israel's interests. In response to a question about whether
Israel stopped sending aid to Gaza early in the war, but under pressure from the United States it has gradually increased the number of trucks allowed into the strip.
Still, aid groups say supplies are not reaching desperate people quickly enough, blaming Israeli restrictions and pointing out that thousands of trucks are waiting to enter Gaza. Countries have tried less efficient methods, such as airdrops and delivering aid by sea.
Israel says it has created more entry points for trucks, particularly in northern Gaza. Israel also accuses aid groups of moving aid too slowly after entering the Gaza Strip.
Aid groups say distribution is complicated by logistical issues and a volatile security situation highlighted by strikes against aid workers.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to achieve “complete victory” and to destroy Hamas' military and governance capabilities to prevent a repeat of the October 7 attack, and to return hostages taken by Hamas and others that day. He says victory must include an attack on Rafa.
Israel launched the war in response to a Hamas cross-border raid in which militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages, according to Israeli authorities.
More than 33,400 Palestinians have been killed in the relentless fighting, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not count civilians and fighters separately, but says most of the dead are women and children. . Israel said, without providing evidence, that it had killed about 12,000 militants.
The war caused a humanitarian catastrophe. Most of the Gaza Strip's population has been displaced, and vast swathes of Gaza's urban landscape have been ravaged by fighting, with many areas destroyed. I can't live there.
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Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah and Chehaib from Beirut. Associated Press writer Joseph Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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