Israeli aircraft killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
IDF were striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate cease-fire negotiations with the Hamas group.
Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed.
Ismail Haniyeh ’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far.
Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.”
The deaths threaten to strain the internationally mediated cease-fire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far apart on key issues.
The slayings also come as Israel is under intensifying pressure — increasingly from its top ally, the U.S. — to change tack in the war, especially when it comes to humanitarian aid for desperate people in Gaza.
Haniyeh said Hamas would not cave to the pressure leveled by the strike on his family.
“The enemy believes that by targeting the families of the leaders, it will push them to give up the demands of our people,” Haniyeh told the Al Jazeera satellite channel.
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”Anyone who believes that targeting my sons will push Hamas to change its position is delusional.”
Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV station aired footage of Haniyeh receiving the news of the deaths through the phone of an aide
He was going to visit wounded Palestinians, beeing transported to a hospital in Qatar, where he lives in exile when he received the message.
Haniyeh nodded, looked down at the ground and slowly walked out of the room.
Al-Aqsa TV said Hazem, Ameer and Mohammed Haniyeh died in the airstrike near the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, Ismail Haniyeh hometown.
Hamas said the airstrike also killed three of Haniyeh’s granddaughters and a grandson. The group did not disclose their ages.
The brothers were travelling with family members in a vehicle that The Israeli drone targeted, Al-Aqsa TV said.
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The strike on Haniyeh’s family is the latest bloodshed in a war with no end in sight.
Earlier, Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz claimed Israel had defeated Hamas militarily.
Although, he also said Israel will fight Hamas for years to come.
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