At least ten family members of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh have been killed in an Israeli airtstrike including his sister,according to officials in Gaza.

The strike hit the Haniyeh family home in Al-Shati refugee camp,in the northern Gaza Strip,said Mahmud Basal,a spokesman for the civil defence agency said.

Pictures show how the building was reduced to rubble,with rescuers working at the scene. The victims were extracted and taken to the local hospital,where white body bags were laid out on the ground and distraught mourners seen gathering.

The attack came just weeks after Haniyeh lost three sons and four grandchildren in an Israeli airstrike on their car nearby.

Before their deaths,Haniyeh was believed to have had 13 sons and daughters. The Qatar-based Hamas leader said at the time said that about 60 members of his family had been killed since the war with Israel broke out on October 7.

Bodies of ten people,including the sister of Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Ismail Haniyeh,are brought to al-Ahli Baptist Hospital

'My sons were awarded this honor. They remained with our Palestinian people in Gaza,did not leave and did not run,' he said,adding: 'The blood of my sons is not dearer than the blood of our people.'

The terror leader hit out at Israel,stating they were 'driven by the spirit of revenge' and claimed around 60 members of his family had been killed since the start of the war. 

Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel which on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people,mostly civilians,according to a tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's blistering air,land and sea campaign since then has killed at least 37,626 people in Gaza,also mostly civilians,according to the territory's health ministry.

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