Gaza - Ma‘an - Eight Palestinians were killed including 7 members of the Al-Hayyah family as a result of an Israeli air strike which targeted the family‘s meeting hall on Sunday evening. The raid came in an attempt to assassinate the Hamas leader, Khalil Al-Hayyah, in the Shuja‘iyya neighborhood east of Gaza City.
Palestinian medical sources stated that 8 people were killed and more than ten were injured. The bodies of the victims arrived at Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City torn into pieces.
The medical sources named the victims as: Nimir Isma‘il Al-Hayyah, 60; Bakir Al-Hayyah, 26; Jihad Abdul Hamid Al-Hayyah, 17; Abdul Hamid Al-Hayyah, 35; Ala‘ Al-Hayyah, 22; Ibrahim Al-Hayyah, 23; Muhammad Khalid Al-Hayyah, 16; and Samih Farawna, 27.
Ma‘an‘s correspondent reported that the Israeli raid came minutes after the Hamas and Fatah movements agreed to end the state of tension. The agreement was read by Khalil Al-Hayyah representing Hamas and Majid Abu Shamala representing Fatah.
Sources in Hamas confirmed that Dr Khalil Al-Hayyah was safe.
The Israeli attack was conducted hours after the Israeli security cabinet decided to intensify military action against the Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders in an attempt to halt the intensified launching of Palestinian homemade projectiles from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli targets.
For his part, the spokesperson of the Hamas bloc in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Salah Bardaweel, affirmed that the Israeli attempt to assassinate a Hamas political figure, who was elected by the Palestinian people, was a very dangerous sign. He affirmed that Hamas would not remain with their hands tied.
Bardaweel told Ma‘an, "The Israeli conduct is a new kind of criminality aimed to end Hamas politically." The Israeli occupation is trying to deliver a message that they will not recognize any political existence of Hamas, explained Salah Bardaweel.
Dr Khalil Al-Hayyah is the former speaker of the Hamas bloc in the PLC, and a member of the Hamas delegation in the political partnership talks, the Cairo dialogues, and the Hamas-Fatah talks.
In Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, an Israeli artillery shell hit the home of Amin Al-Masri, injuring 3 children under the age of 8 years. They were evacuated to hospital, and one of them was reported seriously injured.