US citizen working for Hamas killed in Israeli air strike

A U.S. citizen and his father working for Hamas were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza this month.

A U.S. national and his father who were working for Hamas as engineers, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza earlier this month, a source from the group confirmed to ABC News. Osama al-Zebda, 33, was born in the U.S. while his father, Jamal al-Zebda, 64, studied at the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science at Virginia Tech, according to the Hamas source. Osama lived in the U.S. for five years, his wife told ABC News. The father and son moved back to Gaza after living for a few years in the United Arab Emirates. "We are aware of reports of a U.S. citizen killed in Gaza," a U.S. State Department spokesperson told ABC News. "Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment." Both were killed in an Israeli airstrike during the military's Operation Guardian of the Walls, launched in response to Hamas rockets fired from Gaza earlier this month which saw 253 Palestinians killed -- including 66 children -- over 11 days of airstrikes and shelling, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.