Senior Hamas leader's son wounded, five others killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza: Report

On Wednesday, Azzam al-Hayya was wounded in a strike on Gaza City that also martyred another person, medics and Hamas sources said.

Earlier in the day, four Palestinians had been martyred in separate strikes, including a senior figure in Gaza's police force.

Medics said Naseem al-Kalazani, head of the anti-narcotics unit in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, was killed when a strike hit his vehicle near the al-Mawasi area on the western side of the city. At least 17 other people were wounded in the same incident, according to health officials.

A Hamas official and aide to Khalil al-Hayya, Taher al-Nono, condemned the strike, saying, "Targeting Azzam Khalil al-Hayya ⁠with shelling represents a peak of moral and ethical degradation."

He added, "Shelling and killing only make the negotiator more steadfast in his positions, in defending his people's rights, and in their free will," referring to Khalil al-Hayya's key role in indirect talks with Tel Aviv.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Hayya, himself, said, "This criminal targeting is an extension of the Zionist aggression against our people everywhere... because the occupation wants to take what it wants through pressure, killing, and terrorism."

"We are people of a cause. We will not be intimidated by the killing of children or the martyrdom of leaders," he added.

Last October, the Israeli regime and Hamas agreed on a ceasefire proposal forwarded by the United States, which was expected to put an end to the regime's war of genocide on Gaza.

The regime, though, has breached the ceasefire on countless occasions, claiming the lives of at least 830 Palestinians.

More than 72,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, had already perished throughout the genocide across the Palestinian territory.