Curfew and Clashes: Hamas Attacks the al‑Majayda Family in Gaza, Deepening Residents’ Suffering
Despite the hardships endured by Palestinians as a result of the war waged by Hamas in Gaza, the Palestinian movement has further harmed Gazans through armed attacks, extrajudicial killings and eviction orders.
In recent hours, Hamas launched an assault using four‑wheel‑drive vehicles, involving dozens of members of its “Sahm” unit (a wing of the Izz al‑Din al‑Qassam Brigades), against the al‑Majayda area in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, following the pursuit of a man accused by the movement of being wanted in connection with a killing.
Described as a “coordinated military operation”, the attack struck a neighborhood crowded with thousands of displaced persons and lasted several hours. The movement reportedly failed to seize control of the al‑Majayda block; the events resulted in fatalities and injuries among members of the al‑Majayda family and among civilians uninvolved in the incident, according to local sources.
After the failed assault, Sahm elements are said to be mobilizing in the Asda area and its western outskirts in preparation for a new attack on al‑Majayda.
In preparation for the operation, the Sahm unit of the al‑Qassam Brigades issued a statement imposing a curfew in several parts of Khan Younis to “complete its operation against the al‑Majayda family.” It called for the evacuation of lands and houses belonging to the al‑Majayda clan, prompting the displacement of more than 50 families.
A source disclosed an execution carried out by the movement against a young man named Mahmoud Khattab al‑Majayda, saying Sahm fighters “shot him with more than twenty bullets and killed him, his father and his brother,” and that the younger brother “was wounded and abducted from the hospital.”
The source also claimed that some of the injured members of the al‑Majayda family who were taken to Nasser Hospital were subsequently “killed by Hamas elements.”
Appeals have risen from within Khan Younis urging all families to unite and to refuse to follow “the orders of child‑ and woman‑killers,” calling for a broad popular uprising in the city before it is too late.
The Shaʿat family warned that the psychological, media and military campaign waged by Sahm against the al‑Majayda family will target other Khan Younis families if al‑Majayda is isolated, adding: “The coming hours will be terrifying.”
The al‑Majayda family published a statement urging all families in Khan Younis not to remain passive observers, arguing that “the heinous attack on the al‑Majayda family is an assault on the civil peace of all families and on the displaced families hosting them.” The statement said that seven people were killed in the brutal assault — including a 30‑year‑old woman and a 12‑year‑old girl — and many others were wounded, spreading fear among women and children.
The family condemned “the despicable crime that tramples all norms and civic peace,” asserting that “the resistance’s arms, instead of being directed at the occupier, are pointed at families,” and warning that today’s crime may be the beginning of the “settling of partisan scores” against many families.
They called for solidarity and mobilization to confront such barbaric attacks, stressing that any assault of this kind against one family constitutes an attack on all families. They also urged Palestinian factions to take a serious stand with the families who have suffered and to condemn the atrocious crime that threatens communal peace among clans.
