Posted on 04/10/24
| News Source: WSJ
The head of Hamas’s political leadership, Ismail Haniyeh, said an Israeli airstrike killed three of his sons on Wednesday, the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Fitr, an attack that could complicate a U.S.-led plan for a cease-fire in the six-month-old conflict in Gaza.
The Israeli military didn’t immediately comment on the statement.
Hamas said five people died in the strike, which the group said hit a car making social visits for Eid, the holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Haniyeh, in a separate statement, said some of his grandchildren also died.
“I thank God for this honor that he bestowed upon us with the martyrdom of my three sons and some grandchildren,” Haniyeh said in a video statement posted on X by Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera. The Hamas official, who is based in the Qatari capital Doha, didn’t name his children or grandchildren.
The U.S. is pushing Israel and Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, to negotiate on the terms of a temporary cease-fire, but Hamas has largely rejected the U.S. plan, mediators said earlier Wednesday. Hamas said instead it would put forward its own road map for a permanent end to the war with Israel.
The dismissal illustrates the wide disagreement between the two parties on the contours of a deal and reflects Hamas’s growing confidence that diplomatic and domestic pressure on Israel to end the war gives the U.S.-designated terrorist group the upper hand in negotiations.
Hamas is seeking a permanent cease-fire and the full withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from Gaza in return for the release of hostages held in the strip. Israel has expressed openness to negotiating on the U.S. proposal for a temporary truce but wants the option of continuing its military campaign afterward.