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Middle East Eye
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Father killed, mother abducted and tortured: Gaza boy recounts Israeli raid
In the early hours of 19 May, 13-year-old Mohammad Ahmad Kamel Sarhan's world was turned upside down. 'I was asleep at 6am when I suddenly heard the sound of an explosion,' the boy told Middle East Eye. Israeli soldiers had stormed the home of Sarhan and his family in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, as part of a special operation aimed at capturing the teenager's father, a senior leader of the Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees. Sarhan had been sleeping next to his mother, father and his four siblings Yusuf, 2, Jude, 9, Mahmoud, 10, and Wael, 11. "We all live together - me, my parents, and my siblings - in a single room with a kitchen and a bathroom, all built atop the rubble of our destroyed home," he explained. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters His father was in the bathroom when the violent raid started that day. The teenager said a military-trained dog attacked him and attempted to bite his mother, but he held it away from her. "Then we were surrounded by the sounds of explosions and gunfire." More soldiers flooded the room where the family had sought refuge, as troops fired at the ceiling and near their feet. "After that, they beat me and my brothers. They slammed my mother's head against the wall in front of us, then tied her up - and tied me up as well," he recalled. The Israeli troops surrounded his mother, refusing to let her wear her headscarf, as they shackled her hands and led her towards a bus. 'I heard her voice - she was screaming from the torture' - Mohammad Ahmad Kamel Sarhan, Palestinian child "Along the way, they kept slamming her head into the wall. They tied me up too, and beat me severely. As they dragged me out, one of them grabbed my head and said: 'Look what we did to your father.'" Sarhan saw his father lying in a pool of his own blood, with his body full of bullets. The troops had also taken the senior leader's weapon. "He was stretched out against the wall. My siblings were frozen in place. My brother Wael fainted before I left the house." The al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades later confirmed Sarhan's death in a statement, saying: 'Commander Ahmed Kamel Sarhan, the brigades' special operations officer, was martyred after engaging in a heroic clash against the Zionist special forces.' Kidnapping and torture The 13-year-old recalls being led towards two new Mercedes buses, both packed with Israeli soldiers. He was placed in one, while his mother was taken into the other. Soldiers questioned him about his family's living arrangements. 'They told me, 'You're the one who goes out to buy things for the house. Why you, and not your father?' I asked, 'Why did you take me?' They said, 'Because you're the one who shops for the house.'' Israel orders expulsion of Palestinians from Khan Younis ahead of 'unprecedented attack' Read More » Sarhan and his mother were abducted and taken to a remote area within the Gaza Strip, used by the Israeli army as a military base. Once there, they were separated and placed in different rooms. 'I could hear nothing but the sounds of tanks, military vehicles, and gunfire. I heard her voice - she was screaming from the torture,' the sobbing boy said. Three soldiers who spoke in the local Palestinian dialect continued interrogating him about his purchases for the family. "I remained blindfolded until sunset. Then they put me in a tank and dropped me at an intersection near Street 2, telling me to walk 400 metres," Sarhan said. The young boy walked till he reached the Salah al-Din Street, southern Gaza, where he was reunited with his uncle Issam, who had been contacted by the army. "They didn't let me talk. They hit me hard and repeatedly. One soldier pointed his gun at my chest and told me he would shoot me. He then struck me on the head with the back of the weapon." The whereabouts of Sarhan's mother remain unknown.
Days of Palestine
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Days of Palestine
Dozens killed in Israeli bombardment after failed operation in Khan Younis
DaysofPal- At least 46 Palestinians were killed and dozens more wounded on Sunday in a new wave of Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, as Israeli forces launched intense airstrikes, drone strikes, and a failed special operation in Khan Younis. Medical sources confirmed the fatalities and injuries came from multiple targeted areas, including Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, Rafah, and several refugee camps, as part of what Israel described as the start of its 'Operation Gideon's Chariots.' In Gaza City, two women were killed in an Israeli strike on Wadi al-Arais in the Shujaiya neighborhood. Additional strikes in the Zeitoun neighborhood claimed three more lives, while in Al-Tuffah, an airstrike on a residential home killed three Palestinians, with another body pulled from the rubble. A separate drone strike in the same area killed five civilians, according to medics. Further south, five people were killed and several injured when Israeli warplanes targeted a commercial center in Deir al-Balah. A strike was also reported on a house in the Maghazi refugee camp, but casualties have not yet been confirmed. In southern Gaza, eight Palestinians, including three children, were killed when Israeli forces shelled a tent sheltering displaced civilians north of Khan Younis. A 17-year-old boy was also killed in an airstrike on the town of Khuza'a, east of the city. Israeli naval forces opened fire on fishermen off the coast of Khan Younis, killing one and injuring another. In the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, a child was killed in a drone strike that hit a displacement tent. In the central Gaza Strip, a drone targeted a café near Nuseirat refugee camp, killing four people and injuring several others. Separately, five civilians, including four children, were killed when an Israeli drone struck a tent in the Algerian Camp for displaced people. Two separate Israeli airstrikes hit homes in Khan Younis, each killing seven Palestinians, including women and children, according to medical sources and eyewitnesses. Failed Israeli raid in Khan Younis carried out in women's clothing Israeli special forces carried out a disguised incursion in Khan Younis, entering the al-Kutaiba area dressed in women's clothing and riding in a civilian vehicle. The unit stormed the house of Ahmed Kamel Sarhan, a commander in the Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, executing him during a clash. According to eyewitnesses, the force arrested Sarhan's wife and children, including a 10-year-old boy. During their withdrawal, the forces killed another child and left behind what appeared to be camouflaged baggage, likely to blend in among displaced civilians. To cover the withdrawal, Israeli helicopters and tanks launched a massive bombardment campaign, reportedly carrying out over 40 airstrikes in just 40 minutes, targeting residential areas and displacement tents. The pharmaceutical laboratory at the Nasser Medical Complex was also hit. The Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades confirmed that Sarhan, known as Abu Muhammad, was killed in a confrontation and declared the Israeli raid a failure, stating that the goal had been to capture the commander alive. Israeli military sources offered further insight into the operation. The Yediot Aharonot newspaper reported that 'the goal of the special operation in Khan Younis was to arrest the Palestinian leader to interrogate him and extract information from him about Israeli prisoners, but it failed.' 'There is no need to assassinate a person by endangering a special force, as he can be attacked from the air,' said an Israeli army radio correspondent, adding that the operation in Khan Younis failed and failed to accomplish its true objective. Israeli military radio confirmed the operation but denied it was related to hostage recovery, stating that no Israeli forces were injured. The Gaza Ministry of Health announced that as of Sunday, the death toll from the ongoing Israeli offensive since October 7, 2023, has risen to 53,339 Palestinians killed and 121,344 injured. The latest escalation, marked by the launch of Operation Gideon's Chariots, signals a dangerous intensification of the conflict and a continued humanitarian catastrophe for civilians trapped under siege in Gaza. Shortlink for this post:
