As negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire continue in Cairo, Israeli forces killed three sons and four grandchildren of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an airstrike in central Gaza on Wednesday. Haniyeh spoke to Al Jazeera shortly after the attack.
Ismail Haniyeh: “They believe that if they kill or assassinate leaders or their next of kin, that we will abandon our people, that we will abandon our resistance. They are mistaken. This noble blood that is spilled, including my own children, will harden our resolve, make us more defiant, more adamant to continue to march on this road, the road of struggle and resistance, until we win our freedom and the lawful rights of the Palestinian peoples are restored.”
Ismail Haniyeh’s family members were killed as they were reportedly traveling to a gathering to mark the end of Ramadan. Across Gaza, Israel’s six-month-long assault has cast a dark shadow on the holiday of Eid.
Iman Al-Dah: “We haven’t become accustomed to this life, and we won’t get used to it. We’re just trying to. This Eid has come without any new clothes for the young ones, no money given to children and no joy. Those who have lost people, lost homes, what Eid is this? This is the Eid of destruction, not the Eid of joy.”