The Israeli military said it killed three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an airstrike in Gaza on Wednesday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) said in a statement:
“Earlier today (Wednesday), directed by IDF and ISA intelligence, IAF (Israeli Air Force) aircraft struck three Hamas military operatives that conducted terrorist activity in the central Gaza Strip," it said.
"The three operatives that were struck are Amir Haniyeh, a cell commander in the Hamas military wing, Mohammad Haniyeh, a military operative in the Hamas terrorist organization, and Hazem Haniyeh, also a military operative in the Hamas terror organization," the statement continued.
The IDF said it confirmed that the three operatives are the sons of the Hamas political leader, who is the chairman of the political bureau. CNN is not able to independently confirm these IDF claims.
According to a CNN stringer in Gaza, a total of six family members of Haniyeh — three sons and three grandchildren — along with the driver of the car they were in, were killed in the airstrike.
The IDF and IAF statement did not make mention of anyone being killed in the strike except for Haniyeh's three sons.
The Hamas political leader had said earlier that three of his sons and “a number of grandchildren” had been killed in the strike near Al Shati, northwest of Gaza City.
This post has been updated with additional updates from the Israeli military.
Reporting contributed by Khadr Al-Za’anoun of Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency.