Israeli forces have reportedly kidnapped the sister of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.
The regime’s police told AFP on Monday that Sabah Abdel Salam Haniyeh was taken into custody in the town of Tel el-Sabe (Tel Sheva) in the southern part of the occupied territories as part of an investigation also involving Israel’s internal spy agency, known as Shin Bet.
A police spokesman confirmed that the 57-year-old woman was Haniyeh’s sister, saying she is “suspected of having contact with Hamas operatives and identifying with the organization, while inciting and supporting acts of terrorism” in the occupied territories.
Haniyeh, who is based in the Qatari capital of Doha, is the head of the political bureau of Hamas.
His 22-year-old son, Hazim, was reportedly killed after Israeli warplanes launched a series of airstrikes in the besieged Gaza Strip in February.
Palestinian media, citing sources, said Israeli fighter jets have targeted Haniyeh’s family and relatives in the Gaza Strip multiple times since the Tel Aviv regime started its genocidal war against Palestinians early October last year, killing at least 14 of them in the process.
Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli intensified violence against Palestinians.
Tel Aviv has also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal strip into a humanitarian crisis.
Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed 32,782 Palestinians and injured nearly 75,298 others.
