According to Israeli media, the death of the children and grandchildren of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya was carried out without informing the government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and without obtaining authorization to do so. The army has assumed responsibility for the murder, claiming that they were “on their way to carrying out an act of terror” and that one of them was involved in holding Israeli hostages, as reported by the Hebrew media Hareetz itself.
For its part, the Israeli news agency Walla! continues along the same lines, exonerating the Prime Minister, citing senior Israeli officials who claim that neither Netanyahu nor Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had been informed in advance of the attack. coordinated by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet intelligence service. The relatives of the senior Palestinian leader had been attacked as combatants and not because they were children of the political leader of Hamas, the agency concludes.
The reality is that neither the prime minister’s office nor the army have made any comment on these claims that seem to want to exonerate the leadership of the Israeli government. But it is undeniable that they add complications to a possible negotiation aimed at guaranteeing the cessation of fighting in Gaza in exchange for the return of the 133 Israeli hostages believed to be still held in the besieged enclave.
“The enemy would be amazed if they thought that attacking my children, at the height of the negotiations and before the movement sends its response, will push Hamas to change its position,” Haniya declared Wednesday.
Hamas, for its part, demands an end to the Israeli offensive, the withdrawal of Jewish forces and permission for Palestinians displaced from Gaza to return to their homes. Israel, on the other hand, wants to guarantee the return of the hostages, but says it will not end the war until Hamas is destroyed as a military force.
The command power of Prime Minister Netanyahu seems to be increasingly called into question following the succession of attacks carried out without his authorization or knowledge. Although, equally, they do not seem to disturb him in his inexorable intention to assault the southernmost enclave that shelters more than a million Gazans, Ráfah.
