Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh announced on Wednesday on Al Jazeera the death of three of his sons and several grandchildren in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip.
“I thank God for the honor given to us by the martyrdom of my three sons and some of my grandchildren,” Ismaïl Haniyeh said from Doha in a statement to the Qatari channel.
The strike hit vehicles in which members of Ismail Haniyeh’s family were located, according to al-Jazeera, which broadcast images of car wrecks and blurred bodies, presenting them as those of the victims.
In a statement, Hamas confirmed the death of three sons of their leader and four of his grandchildren in the Shati refugee camp, in Gaza City, in the north of the devastated Palestinian territory. “This bloodshed will make us even firmer in our principles,” said Ismaïl Haniyeh.
Erdogan warns Israel will be held responsible
The Israeli army and domestic intelligence confirmed that they had killed three sons of Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh in a targeted airstrike on Wednesday, described as “military agents” of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his condolences to the Hamas leader on Wednesday, his office announced. During a telephone conversation, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the leader of this Palestinian Islamist movement that Israel would be “held responsible under the law for the crimes against humanity that it has committed”.