Israeli Strikes Target Senior Hamas Official in Gaza, Killing at Least Five

An Israeli air attack in Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood on May 7 2026 killed Hamza al-Sharbasi and seriously wounded Azzam al-Hayya, the son of Khalil al-Hayya. The strike also wounded at least nine other Palestinians, according to medics. Khalil al-Hayya is the head of Hamas’s political bureau and the group’s top negotiator in indirect talks with Israel.

Al Jazeera reported that there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

“I say to the occupation and to all who hear us, we are a people with a just cause. Neither the killing of our sons nor the martyrdom of our leaders will intimidate us,” Khalil al-Hayya said. “Our sons are the sons of the Palestinian people, and my son and the sons of others are all sons of our people without distinction.

Khalil al-Hayya had already lost three sons in previous Israeli attempts on his life. Two of Khalil al-Hayya’s sons were killed in Gaza in the 2008 and 2014 rounds of fighting. His third son was killed in an Israeli attempt to kill Hamas leadership in Doha last year.

Taher al-Nono, a Hamas official and an aide to Khalil al-Hayya, said targeting Azzam represented a peak of moral and ethical degradation. “Shelling and killing only make the negotiator more steadfast in his positions, in defending his people’s rights, and in their free will,” Taher al-Nono said. The attack on Azzam al-Hayya followed two other Israeli raids on the same day.

An Israeli raid occurred on Zeitoun neighbourhood in northern Gaza City on May 7 2026. The raid killed three Palestinians from one family and wounded several others as they attempted to set up a tent near the Salah al-Din Mosque, according to medics. An Israeli attack occurred on the al-Mawasi area on May 7 2026.