Haniyeh confirmed the deaths in an interview with the Al Jazeera satellite channel.

Three sons and three grandchildren of Hamas ’ top political leader were killed Wednesday by an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, and the leader accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.”

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.”

“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.

The strike came as Palestinians in Gaza marked a muted Eid al-Fitr holiday, which ends the holy fasting month of Ramadan, by visiting the graves of loved ones killed in the war.

  • theluckyone@lemmy.worldEnglish
    31·
    9 months ago

    If your society is content with murdering children based on your belief of what they will grow up to be, it’s not a society I’d be comfortable being part of, associating with, or existing alongside.

    May you be judged accordingly.

    • lockeEnglish
      25·
      9 months ago

      Perhaps you misread me or the article. The sons were not underage. I mean… they had children of their own. Did IDF know the underaged grandchildren were travelling with them? I have no idea.

      • dwalin@lemmy.worldEnglish
        21·
        9 months ago

        Idf says: the would be operatives. Therefore they are not. Either idf claims to predict the future or they killed innocent people either way.

      • acargitz@lemmy.caEnglish
        21·
        9 months ago

        Based on what we know about Israel’s Lavender system, they don’t care if the grankids were there, they already factored in the risk and deemed it acceptable.

      • theluckyone@lemmy.worldEnglish
        22·
        9 months ago

        The IDF claims that the children would have been Hamas operatives, on account of who their parents were. It’s not hard to extend that reasoning to the grandchildren. After all, their parents were likely to be Hamas operatives as well.

        No judge, no jury, just an executioner, based solely upon the IDFs word that they’re likely to become future terrorists. One might apply that same logic to the whole of Palestine.

        No, I think I read you perfectly.