A Palestinian TV station aired Wednesday footage of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh receiving the news of the deaths of his sons while visiting a hospital in Doha.
Official Hamas media Al-Aqsa and relatives of Haniyeh said an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip killed three sons of Haniyeh, with Haniyeh accusing Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.”
As an aide received the news on his phone, Haniyeh nodded, looked down at the ground and slowly walked out of the room, Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV showed.
Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest profile figures to have been killed in the war so far. It was not immediately clear how their deaths might affect the months-long cease-fire talks being brokered by international mediators.
Haniyeh confirmed the deaths Wednesday in an interview with the Al Jazeera satellite channel, saying his sons “were martyred on the road to liberating Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
“The criminal enemy is driven by the spirit of revenge and murder and does not value any standards or laws,” he said in the phone interview.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.
In his interview with Al Jazeera, Haniyeh said the killings would not pressure Hamas into softening its positions.
“The enemy believes that by targeting the families of the leaders, it will push them to give up the demands of our people,” he said. “Anyone who believes that targeting my sons will push Hamas to change its position is delusional.”
Haniyeh lives in exile in Qatar, where Al Jazeera is based.
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