Gaza civil defence says Israeli strike kills 10 relatives of Hamas chief

The Gaza civil defence agency said an Israeli air strike early on Tuesday killed 10 members of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh's family, in an attack the Israeli military did not immediately confirm.

The strike hit the Haniyeh family home in Al-Shati refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, said Mahmud Basal, spokesman for the Hamas-ruled territory's civil defence.

"There are 10 martyrs... as a result of the strike, including Zahr Haniyeh, sister of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh," Basal told AFP.


He said a number of bodies were likely still under the rubble but "we do not have the necessary equipment" to extract them.

Civil defence crews transferred the bodies to Al-Ahli hospital in nearby Gaza City, Basal added, also reporting "several wounded" in the attack.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it "was aware of the reports but we cannot confirm" them.

Haniyeh, Hamas's Qatar-based political leader, lost three sons and four grandchildren in an Israeli strike in April in central Gaza, with the military accusing them of "terrorist activities".

Haniyeh at the time said that about 60 members of his family had been killed since the Palestinian militant group's war with Israel broke out on October 7.

The war began after Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's blistering air, land and sea campaign since then has killed at least 37,626 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the territory's health ministry.