Azzam Al-Hayya, son of senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya, died on Thursday morning from severe wounds sustained in an Israeli drone strike in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City.
Azzam was wounded on Wednesday evening when an Israeli drone targeted a group of people in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, by the Jabalia bus terminal. His death comes as the Israeli military intensifies operations across the enclave, killing at least six Palestinians in three separate attacks over the last 24 hours.
The assassination of the chief negotiator’s son—the fourth of Al-Hayya’s sons to be killed by Israel—marks a significant escalation during ongoing negotiations over the second phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Al-Hayya characterized the strike as “political blackmail” intended to force concessions in negotiations over a permanent truce and Israeli withdrawal.
“The killing of sons and leaders will not intimidate us,” Al-Hayya said in an interview published on the movement’s official Telegram channel. He added that the targeting of his family was an extension of “Israeli aggression” against all Palestinians.
A medical source at Al-Shifa Hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al Manassa that Azzam Al-Hayya underwent emergency surgery to amputate both legs but succumbed to extensive injuries hours later. Palestinians held a funeral for him at the hospital early Thursday.
The strike in Al-Daraj was part of a broader surge in lethal aerial attacks across the city. In the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, an Israeli strike killed three members of the Kishko family, including a father and son. Eyewitnesses told Al Manassa the family was targeted while attempting to pitch a tent near the ruins of the Salah Al-Din Mosque. Six others, including children, were wounded and taken to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.
A third Israeli strike hit the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis—a district previously designated as a humanitarian zone. A drone targeted a police vehicle, killing Colonel Nassem Al-Kalzani of the Hamas-administered police force. Medical sources at the Nasser Medical Complex reported that 15 others, including several children in serious condition, were injured in the Al-Mawasi strike, which occurred in a densely populated area.
The latest violence follows a pattern of violations of the October ceasefire agreement, which have resulted in 846 deaths and 2,418 injuries, according to the latest data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Hamas reiterated that such strikes would not alter its primary demands for a “full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip” and an end to the siege. This is the second high-profile attack on Al-Hayya’s immediate circle in recent months; on September 9, 2025, an assassination attempt on the Hamas delegation in Doha killed five people, including his son Hammam.
