Israeli strike kills sons of Hamas leader

JERUSALEM/GAZA — Three of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh's sons were killed on Wednesday in an Israeli strike in Gaza, both Hamas and Israel's military said, as the conflict rages on after more than six months.

Haniyeh, who is based in Qatar, told the Al Jazeera network that three of his sons and some of his grandchildren were killed when their car was hit.

The deadly strike came as there were no signs of progress in mediation efforts led by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, seeking a halt in the fighting.

The political head of the Palestinian militant group told Al Jazeera that "three of my sons, Hazem, Amir and Mohammed, and some of my grandchildren "were killed.

Several media reports and Hamas statements gave varying death tolls for the strike.

An Israeli military statement said its forces killed "three Hamas operatives" who were "on their way to carry out terrorist activities" in central Gaza.

"The IDF (Israeli military) confirms that the operatives are three of Ismail Haniyeh's children," the statement said, adding that they were members of Hamas' military wing.

According to Al Jazeera, a drone hit the family's car in the northern Gaza Strip's Al Shati refugee camp.

Haniyeh said the deadly strike would fail to force Hamas' hand in negotiations toward a truce and hostage release.

Talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar have been ongoing since Sunday.

US President Joe Biden said Hamas "needs to move" on the latest truce proposal, which the militant group has said it is studying.

Making concessions

Israel said it has agreed in cease-fire talks to concessions about the return of Palestinians to the north of the enclave, but believes Hamas does not want to strike a deal, Israeli officials said on Wednesday.

Two officials with knowledge of the talks said that under a US proposal for a truce, Israel would allow the return of 150,000 Palestinians to northern Gaza with no security checks.

In return, they said Hamas would be required to give a list of female, elderly and sick hostages it still holds alive.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined to comment.

The fighting was sparked by Hamas' Oct 7 attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, Israeli figures showed.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,482 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

A spiraling humanitarian crisis has drawn pressure on Israel from its Western and Arab partners to do more to facilitate the entry of aid, after months in which it sought to shift the burden to Egypt, which also has a border with Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that the country will open a new land crossing into the Gaza Strip designed mainly to facilitate deliveries to Palestinians of aid from overseas or neighboring Jordan.

He said they expected to have 500 aid trucks entering Gaza a day, which would match the average level of aid and commercial trucks reaching the territory before the conflict.

Israel has gradually reopened two established cargo crossings and created a new crossing on its border, and announced last week it would admit Gaza-bound aid shipments at its southern port of Ashdod.

Briefing reporters, Gallant said a new crossing point would be created on the northern part of the Gaza border to reduce the time taken to truck in aid from Ashdod, 40 kilometers away.

An aide said the crossing point would be between the Israeli village of Zikim and the Palestinian village of As-Siafa.

On the battlefield, Israeli forces intensively bombed the surrounding areas of Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza since Wednesday night, causing casualties, local sources said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Israel Defense Forces announced in a statement on Thursday that Israeli soldiers have begun a military operation in these areas.

Agencies - Xinhua