Hamas Chief's Son Shot in Israeli Airstrike - What Happened Next Will Shock You

An Israeli airstrike obliterated Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood on Wednesday, leaving one person dead and shocking Hamas leadership with a brazen strike on a top negotiator’s own son.

The target? Azzam al-Hayya, son of Khalil al-Hayya, who heads Hamas’s political bureau and leads all indirect peace negotiations with Israel. He was seriously wounded in the blast.

Khalil al-Hayya immediately broke his silence, confirming his son’s critical condition to Al Jazeera. “I say to the occupation and to all who hear us, we are a people with a just cause,” he said, his voice steady despite the personal devastation. “Neither the killing of our sons nor the martyrdom of our leaders will intimidate us.”

But here’s where it gets darker: this isn’t the first time Israel has come after al-Hayya’s family. He’s already lost THREE other sons. Two were killed during Gaza fighting in 2008 and 2014. His third son was assassinated in Doha, Qatar last year during an Israeli operation targeting Hamas leadership. Now Azzam joins the list of his children caught in the crossfire.

The Wednesday bombing killed one other person identified as Hamza al-Sharbasi, while at least nine Palestinians were wounded in the same strike.

But the violence didn’t stop there. Two other raids hit Gaza the same day. One targeted the Zeitoun neighbourhood in northern Gaza City, killing three members of one family near the Salah al-Din Mosque. Another struck al-Mawasi in the south, killing Naseem al-Kalazani, head of Khan Younis’s anti-narcotics force, plus 17 others wounded.

All told: five Palestinians dead, dozens wounded in a single day of strikes.

Hamas immediately condemned the attacks as a “blatant violation” of the October ceasefire agreement. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 837 Palestinians have been killed since that supposed ceasefire. The total death toll since October 2023? A staggering 72,619 people, with 172,484 wounded. Most are children and women.

Taher al-Nono, a Hamas official and al-Hayya’s aide, called the strike on Azzam “a peak of moral and ethical degradation.” He warned that such attacks only harden negotiators’ resolve.

Israel’s military has not commented. Meanwhile, the country’s security cabinet met this week to discuss potentially restarting the war after Hamas refused Israel’s demand for full disarmament.