Tel Aviv, April 11 (IANS): The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have said that the three sons of Ismail Haniyeh, who died in an airstrike, were part of the Hamas military wing and were involved in holding Israeli hostages.

Israel's Prime Minister’s office said that PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant were not in the know of the airstrike.

According to sources in the Prime Minister’s office, the airstrike, which took place on Wednesday, was ordered by a Colonel in IDF’s southern command and was an operational necessity on the ground.

Ismail Haniyeh is the political bureau head of Hamas and lives in Qatar.

The three sons of Haniyeh -- Hazel, Amir and Mohammed -- were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the car they were driving in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.

Haniyeh’s four grandchildren were also killed in the attack. The senior Hamas leader had on Wednesday confirmed that his sons and grandchildren were killed in Israel airstrike.

IDF said that the three were part of Hamas’s military wing Qassim Brigades.

Ismail Haniyeh in a statement said, "Thanks God for bestowing upon us the honour of their martyrdom”.

Meanwhile, Haniyeh’s eldest son, Abdel Salam Haniyeh in a social media post said,” Thanks to God who honoured us by the martyrdom of my brothers, Hazel, Amir and Mohammed.”

Hebrew and Arabic media have reported that the killings of Ismael Haniyeh’s children and grandchildren would lead to the possibility of derailing the ongoing Cairo peace talks in which Haniyeh is playing a major role.