The Israel Defence Forces on Wednesday confirmed that it eliminated three sons of Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, during a recent airstrike conducted in the Gaza Strip, saying that they were active members of the terrorist organization. Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official on Wednesday claimed that the terror group ‘does not have the 40 hostages” who met the criteria for an exchange under a proposed cease-fire agreement with Israel, raising fears that they might be dead.
Taking to microblogging platform X, IDF confirmed that the Israeli military struck Haniyeh’s three sons, Amir, Hazem, and Mohammad while they were en route to “carry out a terror activity in the area of Central Gaza. IDF’s claims were later confirmed by Hamas’ leader, informing that his sons were living in the Gaza Strip, while he headed the terror organization’s political bureau from exile. Notably, fHamas-affiliated media reported that three of his grandchildren were also killed.
Astonishingly, it was after the death of Haniyeh’s three sons that the terror organization understood the pain being felt by the innocent Palestinians, which was also because the members of the terror organization used innocent civilians as shields to protect themselves from being eliminated.
Nonetheless, the Hamas leader remained defiant, mentioning that the killings would not change the position held by Hamas. Furthermore, Haniyeh claimed the Turkish president and Qatari Prime Minister offered him condolences, adding that he also got a call from the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.
At the same time, Hamas claims that it had no record of 40 hostages being considered to be swapped as per a ceasefire agreement, raising fears that more hostages have died than the number previously believed. Notably, international negotiators, such as the US, who are trying to finalize a ceasefire agreement, have proposed an initial six-week ceasefire during which Hamas would release a first group of 40 hostages — including women, older people, ill hostages, and five female Israeli soldiers. In return, Israel would let go of hundreds of Palestinians held in prisons, including other demands.
Israel officials believe that Hamas terrorists have 130 hostages in their control, of which 30 have died in captivity, according to the Israeli intelligence officers. When the Hamas terrorists launched a brutal attack against Israel, it took with them around 240 hostages, of which a few were released during a temporary ceasefire agreement.
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