Israeli hospital treats daughter of Hamas leader weeks after war

September 5, 2014 - FILE photo - Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh speaking during Friday prayers at a makeshift mosque. An Israeli hospital says it has treated Haniyeh's daughter, weeks after a brutal war between Israel and the Islamic militant group. (REUTERS)

An Israeli hospital says it has treated the daughter of Hamas' top leader in the Gaza Strip, weeks after a brutal war between Israel and the Islamic militant group.

Avi Shushan, a spokesman for Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital, said the daughter of Ismail Haniyeh was hospitalized for "a number of days" this month. Reuters reported she was admitted for emergency medical treatment after suffering complications from a routine procedure, according to two sources familiar with the case.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli military confirmed the hospital stay. She spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to release the information.

Hamas officials were not immediately available for comment.

Haniyeh, who has 13 children, is a Hamas leader in Gaza, serving as a deputy to Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, who lives in exile.

The two Reuters sources -- a Palestinian and a foreign diplomat with knowledge of the case -- declined to name Haniyeh’s daughter for privacy reasons, asking that details of her condition not be published.

Israel and Hamas fought a bloody 50-day war last summer that killed more than 2,100 Palestinians and 72 Israelis.

Like many Hamas officials, Haniyeh spent the seven-week-long war largely in hiding. His home in the northern part of the Gaza Strip was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike.

An Israeli official said that in most cases, a Palestinian doctor’s request  to allow a patient across the border for urgent treatment was sufficient, which suggests Haniyeh may not have been personally involved in his daughter's application.

During the war and since it ended in late August, dozens of patients from Gaza have been brought to Israeli hospitals, which can offer better resources and technology for advanced treatment and complicated operations.

Israeli media has reported that one of Haniyeh's granddaughters was treated in an Israeli hospital last November, while his mother-in-law sought treatment in a Jerusalem hospital in June.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.