Israeli army kills ex-Hamas political leader's nephew in Gaza operation

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced that Walid Haniyeh, who served as deputy commander of a Nukhba company within Hamas’ military wing, was killed during an operation in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Israeli military, the militant was the nephew of former Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh.

In an official statement, the IDF said that Walid Haniyeh was directly involved in the October 7 attack on Israel and commanded a unit that breached the border. The military also accused him of training militants and recruiting new members for the organization.

"In recent times, Haniyeh attempted to operate to recruit additional terrorists to the Hamas terrorist organization, and commanded the military training of the Nukbah company under his command. 

Haniyeh commanded the infiltration of a terrorist cell into Israeli territory on October 7th, and took part in the infiltration. As such, Haniyeh was involved in directing and providing operational instructions to the terrorist cell as they took Israeli civlians hostage into the Gaza Strip," the army added.

Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran in a missile strike on July 31, 2024. Israel’s responsibility for the attack was officially acknowledged by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz in December of the same year.

By Jeyhun Aghazada