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Updated Wednesday, April 10, 2024 – 20:42
Hazem, Amir and Mohamedthree of the 13 children of the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyahhave died in an Israeli air attack against their car, which was traveling through Shati refugee camp. The leader of the Islamist group, who was born 61 years ago in this area located in the north of the Gaza Strip, was informed in Qatar, where he has lived for several years, that the drone missile also killed three grandchildren his.
He Israeli army confirmed the attack and noted that Haniyah’s three sons were “a cell commander (Amir) and two operatives (Mohamed and Hazem) of the armed wing of the Hamas terrorist group.” In his statement in the afternoon and in reference to the grandchildren, he noted that he was “aware of reports that other relatives of Haniyah were injured, including a minor. This information has not been verified by the Army.” The Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuand the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, were not informedI know in advance according to Channel 11 that, citing military sources, affirms that one of the sons killed in Shati was involved in holding Israeli kidnapped people.
“I thank Al for the honor he has given me. My children have died as martyrs on the path of the liberation of Jerusalem and Al Aqsa. His blood will increase our determination and our adherence to the land,” Haniyah reacted. Also aware that in recent years he has been accused of “getting rich and living in a luxury hotel in Qatar” and not with the suffering Gazan population, he highlighted that His family has approximately “60 martyrs”. In an interview with the Qatari channel Al Jazeera in Doha, where his eldest son also lives, he declared that “all the Palestinian people and families in the Gaza Strip pay a high price and so do I.”
“With the blood of the martyrs, the wounds of the wounded and the pain, we create hope, freedom and independence for our people, our cause and our nation,” added Haniyah, who received condolences from the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, in the evening. , after what he called “insane action of the brutal Zionist regime.” Two weeks ago, the two leaders held a meeting in Tehran in which Raisi reiterated his support for Hamas, Gaza and the Palestinians.
As leader of Hamas abroad since 2017, when he took over from Khaled Meshal, Haniyah is very important in making political decisions at the regional level (for example in close relations with Iran, Turkey or Qatar) but It’s Yahia Sinwarleader of the group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, who has the last word about this Palestinian enclave, the war and the negotiations for a truce to end the offensive that Israel launched in response to the jihadist attack on October 7.
Haniyah has a key role in everything that refers to the pressure that Qatar can exercise over the militia at a key moment in the negotiation, when everyone awaits Hamas’s response to the new ceasefire proposal presented by CIA Director Bill Burns last Sunday in Cairo. “Our demands are clear and specific and we will not make concessions on them. The enemy will be disappointed if he thinks that attacking my sons, who have received the honor of being martyrs, at the climax of the negotiations and before the movement sends its response “to push Hams to change its position,” he responded. Haniyah who accused Israel Act “driven by the spirit of revenge of murder and bloodshed without respecting any law.
The end of Ramadan
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry indicates that more than 33,400 Palestinians died in the Israeli offensive that this Thursday reaches its 188th day, coinciding with Eid al Fitr. The traditional family and social festival, which marks the end of Ramadan, began in the Gaza Strip under the devastating effects of war.
Although it has retired most of his soldiers of the punished Palestinian enclave, the Israeli Army continues carrying out air attacks against everything he considers Hamas’ objectives. According to local analysts, not only to “continue the objective of dismantling the terrorist group but also to put pressure on it at the negotiating table.” Another weapon of pressure could be to announce an offensive in Rafah daily.
Along with Sinwar and the head of the armed wing, Mohamed Deif, Haniyah appears at the top of Israel’s “most wanted” list due to the largest attack it suffered in its history (1,200 dead and 253 kidnapped). But unlike the other two in the Gaza Strip, Haniyah feels safer in Qatar since he believes, rightly or wrongly, that Mossad will not dare kill him while he is in the territory of a country that acts as a mediator, together with the US and Egypt, for the truce and the release of hostages.
Israel is tensely awaiting two important and apparently imminent events that could lead to a truce or a regional war. On the one hand, Hamas’s response to the ceasefire proposal. According to various sources, it will be negative considering that it does not respond to their demands led by achieving a definitive truce and not just six weeks in which they should free 40 of the 133 Israelis still in captivity in Gaza.
On the other hand, the retaliation promised by Iran to the death of seven Revolutionary Guard officers in an Israeli attack in Damascus 10 days ago. “The evil regime made a mistake and must be punished, and it will be,” wrote Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei on the X network, repeating the message delivered in the speech celebrating the end of Ramadan. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded in Persian: “If Iran attacks from its own territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran.”
Already in Hebrew and after meeting with military officials from Operations and Intelligence regarding the possible Iranian coup, Gallant advised: “Any enemy that tries to attack us will first encounter a very strong defense”. On a visit to an anti-aircraft battery in Iron Dome, he sent a message to Iran: “We will also know how to react quickly with a resounding attack action on the territory of whoever attacks our territory and it does not matter who it is in the Middle East.”
