The sister of Ismail Haniyeha Hamas political leader, became the latest member of his family to be killed in an Israeli strike, the terror group said.
Zahr died along with her husband and children on Monday night during an attack on Beach Camp, north of Gaza City.
Basem NaimHamas spokesman said the number of members of the exiled leader’s family who were killed was around 100.
Based between Qatar and Turkey, Haniyeh remained safe from assassination all along the war with Israel. Qatar remains a key player in negotiations to free the remaining 120 Israeli hostages in Gaza.
But Haniyeh’s family remains in the crosshairs. In April, his three sons were killed during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr. Hazem, Amir and Mohammad died along with several of his grandchildren.
Haniyeh said at the time that their “martyrdom” was a symbol of hope. “Through the blood of the martyrs and the pain of the wounded, we create hope, we create the future, we create independence and freedom for our people and our nation,” he told Al Jazeera .
At the time, the Israeli military said the three sons were soldiers on their way to “carry out terrorist activities in the central area of the Gaza Strip.” There has been no comment so far on the latest attack.
“The blood of my children has no more value than the blood of the children of the Palestinian people… All the martyrs of Palestine are my children,” Haniyeh said at the time of his sons’ assassination.
Israel is “delusional”
In the middle in progress US-brokered negotiationswho have not made progress since a short temporary ceasefire last year, Haniyeh highlighted the futility of Israel targeting his family.
“If they think that targeting my children at the height of these talks, before the response of the (Hamas) movement is submitted, will cause Hamas to change its position, they are wrong,” Haniyeh said in april.
In Israel, where Haniyeh’s sister lives in a peaceful Bedouin community in the south of the country, her sister Sabah remains under house arrest, accused of affiliation with a terrorist group and inciting unrest.
This followed messages sent, notably to his brother, welcoming the atrocities of October 7. More than 1,200, mostly civilians, were killed by Hamas in Israel and another 250 were taken hostage.
Hamas has denied media claims that it has moved its Qatari outpost to Iraq. Reports suggested Gulf mediators were pressuring the terror group to leave the gas-rich state if no progress was made in ceasefire negotiations, but Mr Naim said “nothing is not true.”
An Israeli member of the hostage negotiation team said: “In the last two months, there have been three such discussions about Qatar forcing Hamas to leave, which until now remain empty threats. We cannot understand that this is a way to appease the United States when no progress is being made in the talks to free hostages.”
