The son of Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya died Thursday of wounds sustained in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip, as Israel confirmed an attack on a top Hezbollah commander in the Lebanese capital, in the latest violations of ceasefire deals in both areas.
An Anadolu correspondent said Azzam al-Hayya breathed his last after suffering critical injuries in the strike that targeted the Daraj neighborhood east of Gaza City on Wednesday evening.
On Wednesday, Hayya said his son had been seriously wounded in the Israeli attack, accusing Israel of seeking to achieve its goals through “pressure, killing and terrorism.”
Video footage from Gaza City showed mourners carrying Azzam’s body from Al-Shifa Hospital before his burial.
According to Palestinian sources, Azzam was Hayya’s fourth son to have been killed by Israel.
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Azzam’s killing represents “an extension of the occupation’s policy of targeting civilians and the families of Palestinian leaders,” Hamas said in a statement, describing it as a failed attempt to influence “the will of the resistance and its political positions through terrorism, killing and psychological pressure.”
It said the attack came “within the framework of attempts to exert pressure on the resistance leadership and its negotiating delegation after the occupation failed to impose its conditions or achieve its declared objectives.”
Separately, the Israeli army confirmed in a statement on Thursday that it had killed Ahmed Balout, whom it described as the commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force, in a strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday.
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah on the Israeli claim.
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