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A video broadcasted by Al Jazeera appears to show Haniyeh receiving the news of the death of his sons and grandchildren: Hazem and his daughter Amal; Amir and his sons Khalid and Rizan; and Mohammed. After learning of their deaths, while visiting wounded Gazans from the war in a hospital in Doha, Qatar, he can be heard blessing God and telling his entourage, "Let's continue to work."

"I am grateful to God for the honor he has given me in the deaths of three of my children and a few of my grandchildren," Haniyeh told Al Jazeera, from Qatar. "My sons were awarded this honor. They remained with our Palestinian people in Gaza, did not leave and did not run," he added.

He added that his sons "were martyred on the road to liberating Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque."

"The criminal enemy is driven by the spirit of revenge and murder and does not value any standards or laws," he said in the phone interview. Hamas said that Israel "took advantage of the [Eid al-Fitr] holiday and slaughtered them."

An Israeli source expressed his concern that Hamas will derail the hostage deal being negotiated between Hamas and Israel.

Haniyeh then stated that "the killing of my sons will not affect Hamas cease-fire demands," according to Reuters.

"The enemy believes that by targeting the families of the leaders, it will push them to give up the demands of our people," he said. "Anyone who believes that targeting my sons will push Hamas to change its position is delusional."

A Hamas source in Gaza told Haaretz that the assassination is "a foolish move that strengthens Hamas publicly rather than weakening it. It's specifically Hamas opponents, even in networks not affiliated with the organization in the Palestinian and Arab arena, who are criticizing Hamas leadership abroad for their luxurious lifestyle and for abandoning the Palestinian people, and here comes the assassination and proves that the chief's sons are still in Gaza and that Haniyeh himself is paying a personal price. This proves that in Israel there is a group of avengers and not statesmen".

In total, Haniyeh has 13 sons and daughters. Some of them live in Gaza and some in Turkey and Qatar. Most of his sons work in trade and real estate and are not known to the public as directly involved in Hamas' political or military activities.

Most of the criticism is directed at their substantial financial gains due to being the sons of Haniyeh. One of them, Mu'ad, faced sharp criticism for moving to Turkey and even obtaining a Turkish passport for easier mobility.

During the war, an IDF Arabic spokesperson released a receipt testifying to the fact that one of Haniyeh's sons acquired jewelry worth tens of thousands of shekels.

From Qatar, Haniyeh mentioned that in recent years he has lost many members of his family. On October 17, ten days after the outbreak of the war, it was reported in Gaza that three close relatives of Haniyeh's family were killed in a bombing on his brother's house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.