'He Should Not Have Been There': Israel Says It Hit Hamas Leader’s Son Who Was 'Of No Interest'

Last Updated:May 07, 2026, 17:12 IST

Israeli airstrike kills Azzam Al-Hayya, son of Hamas negotiator, but IDF says he was collateral while targeting a Nukhba terrorist, causing strain on Trump's Gaza peace talks.

An Israeli airstrike has killed the son of Hamas’ chief negotiator in the US-brokered talks with Israel, a senior Hamas official said on Thursday.

According to Reuters, Khalil Al-Hayya has lost four of his seven children in Israeli attacks while he himself has survived multiple Israeli attempts to kill him. In 2025, an Israeli strike in Doha targeting Hamas ​leadership killed his son, though Hayya survived. Two other sons were killed in past Israeli attempts on ​his life, in Gaza strikes in 2008 and 2014.

Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post quoted a military source saying that al-Haya’s son, Azzam ‌Al-Hayya, was not the target of the attack.

“Khalil al-Hayya’s son is of no interest to us, and if he was harmed, it was because he was somewhere he should not have been," the military source said. “If he was harmed, it did not happen because of his family ties, because he truly is not a figure of particular interest to us."

The source further said that the IDF had targeted a Nukhba terrorist, special forces unit within Hamas’s military wing, the Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades, and al-Hayya’s son was just a collateral damage.

Following the death of Azzam ‌Al-Hayya, Al Jazeera quoted Khalil Al-Hayya accusing Israel of trying to undermine mediators’ efforts to push ahead with U.S. President Donald ​Trump’s Gaza plan, overseen by his so-called “Board of Peace".

“These Zionist attacks and violations clearly indicate that ​the occupation does not want to abide by a ceasefire or by the first phase," he said.

According to Reuters, these attacks come as leaders ⁠of Hamas and other Palestinian factions held talks with regional mediators and the Board of Peace’s lead envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, this week in Cairo, to push Trump’s Gaza plan into its second phase.

As per US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, that was inked by Israel and Hamas in October last year, involves Israeli troops withdrawing from Gaza and starting of reconstruction with the laying down of arms by Hamas.

Reuters quoted a Hamas official saying that the group told Mladenov it would ​not engage in ⁠serious talks over the implementation of the second phase before Israel concludes obligations stemming from the first phase of the Gaza deal, including a complete halt to attacks.

Despite the ceasefire deal, at least Palestinians have been killed since the peace deal was inked. Meanwhile, Israel said Hamas militants have killed four of its soldiers in the same period.

News world 'He Should Not Have Been There': Israel Says It Hit Hamas Leader’s Son Who Was 'Of No Interest'

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