Israel Takes Out Hamas Political Leader’s Children in Car Bombing

At around 5:30 Wednesday morning, the IDF conducted a targeted bombing on a car in the Shati Camp — west of Gaza City. Three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh named Hazem, Amir, and Muhammad Ismail, along with some of their children were targeted and killed in a bombing. 

Haniyeh himself later confirmed that his three sons and three grandchildren were killed. Haniyeh is the chairman of Hamas’ political bureau and lives safely in Qatar. Haniyeh lost other members of his family including his brother, nephew, granddaughter and oldest grandson back in October during an airstrike. 

In a recent address marking the end of Ramadan, which is currently underway, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sharply criticized Israel, for an airstrike on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus. This strike led to the death of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Zahedi along with 11 others. Khamenei emphasized that the attack on the consulate, viewed by Iran as sovereign territory, was a grave mistake by Israel warranting punishment. Khamenei is now calling for a direct response. 

Israeli officials, including Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, issued strong warnings to Iran not to attack. Katz declared on social media that any Iranian aggression would elicit a forceful Israeli counterattack directly against Iran. Gallant says Israel is ready to defend itself and to take decisive offensive measures if provoked. He says “In this war, we are being attacked from more than one front… from different directions. Any enemy that tries to attack us, will first of all be met with a strong defense, but we will know how to react very quickly with a decisive offensive action against the territory of whoever attacks our territory, no matter where it is, in the entire Middle East.”.

Preparations for the Iran Response: The City of Tel Aviv has been ordered to prepare shelters for long term stays and to ensure they are fully open. Additionally, in a report from our followers: students in cities have been returning home with notes from the Ministry of Education explaining to be prepared for an emergency situation where learning will transition to remote. Students were provided details on how to access the platform.