The home of Hamas’ top political leader was destroyed in a suspected Israeli airstrike on Saturday, officials said.
Ismail Haniyeh’s family residence, located in the Shati refugee camp on the northern outskirts of Gaza City, was attacked on Saturday morning, according to the Hamas-run media outlet in Gaza.
There were no immediate details on possible victims or the true extent of the damage.
At the time of the attack, Haniyeh’s home was being used by his two sons, said Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official.
Haniyeh was elected political head of Hamas in 2017 and has lived in luxurious “exile” in Qatar since 2019.
News of the latest attack came amid continued calls for a ceasefire as the number of Palestinians killed surpassed 9,200, less than a month after Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is horrific,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday night. “An entire population is traumatized and no place is safe.”
Palestinian rescuers try to put out a fire while standing in the rubble of a collapsed building following an attack by the Israeli army in Khan Yunis. AFP via Getty Images
Guterres warned that civilians and infrastructure must be protected as Israel continues its retaliatory bombings against Gaza, and said civilians should not be used as human shields.
He also called on Hamas to release the approximately 240 hostages it has been holding since October 7.
During his third wartime visit to Tel Aviv on Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed President Biden’s own call for a temporary end to the fighting to address the humanitarian dilemma.
Civilians inspect the rubble after an attack in Khan Yunis on Saturday. AFP via Getty Images
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would be no such pause until Hamas frees all the hostages.
“The bombing is getting closer day by day. We don’t know where to go,” said Adly Abu Taha, a resident of Gaza City.
Taha has been sheltering in place on the grounds of Al-Quds Hospital, on the western edge of the city, for the past three weeks.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Tel Aviv this week to discuss aid to Gaza.REUTERS
The Israeli military has said Hamas has essential military assets in Gaza City, including underground tunnels, command centers and bunkers.
Israeli officials have repeatedly urged residents of northern Gaza to move south in anticipation of their bombardment, even though even those in the southern part of the region are unable to leave.
Israel has also continued to attack southern Gaza, where it says it is also attacking Hamas members.
Follow The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel.
“People never sleep. The sound of explosions never stops,” said Raed Mattar, sheltering in a school in southern Khan Younis after fleeing the north, on Saturday.
According to the UN, around 1.5 million people in Gaza – or 70 percent of the population – have fled their homes in recent weeks.
An airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, early Saturday destroyed the home of at least one family.
The vast majority of Gazans have attempted to leave their homes. Hama’s own leader, Ismail Haniyeh, is currently in Qatar.AFP via Getty Images
Rescuers pulled six injured people and three bodies, including a child, from the rubble.
In addition to the airstrikes, the Israeli military has confirmed that ground forces with armored and engineering corps are operating in the south to remove booby traps from buildings.
Hamas terrorists were seen coming out of a tunnel during the operation and were subsequently killed by Israeli troops, the military said.
At least 9,200 Palestinians have been killed in less than a month.AFP via Getty Images
Israeli forces said they were also targeted in attacks carried out from tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip.
Outside Gaza, the Israeli military said Saturday it attacked militant cells and a Hezbollah observation post in Lebanon.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s first public speech on the war on Friday suggested an escalation was possible, but he did not fully support his Hamas allies.
On Saturday, Blinken was scheduled to meet in Amman, Jordan, with diplomats from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank.
In addition to efforts to organize the delivery of aid to Gaza and allow foreigners to leave the area, Blinken is seeking help from his allies to free the hostages. And he is reportedly seeking to get Jordan and the other Arab states to think about the future of Gaza.
So far, the region’s leaders have pushed back against the United States’ call for them to play a larger role in the war.
With postal cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn