From the Liveblog of
Friday, October 3, 2025
Leader of armed Gazan group claims it foiled Hamas attack with IDF assistance
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNurit Yohanan is The Times of Israel's Palestinian and Arab world correspondent
Hossam al-Astal, who leads an armed group supported by Israel east of Khan Younis, tells The Times of Israel that they thwarted a Hamas attack this morning in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, with the assistance of the IDF.
Al-Astal says that at 6 a.m. this morning, Hamas operatives arrived in al-Mawasi and opened fire, launching RPGs toward an area where members of the al-Majaida family, whom the terror group was targeting, were present.
The al-Majaida family has been warring with Hamas for several weeks, ever since operatives shot several family members in the leg for unclear reasons, al-Astal says. He says the group has also claimed the family is collaborating with Israel and stealing humanitarian aid.
He says his forces came to the family’s assistance, and with the help of Israeli air support, they were able to strike the entire Hamas unit.
Eleven Hamas operatives were killed and six were seriously wounded, he says, as well as one member of the Majaida family who fought against them. His own forces sustained no casualties.
Social media accounts affiliated with Hamas also report on the attack, but claim that although members of Hamas’s armed wing were killed, Hamas managed to kill several members of the al-Majaida family, whom they accused of collaborating with Israel.
Al-Astal publishes photos on his Facebook page of the alleged Hamas operatives killed in the foiled attack, some wearing military vests and headbands of Hamas’s armed wing. This is the first reported case of a Hamas attack in Gaza being openly thwarted by a Palestinian armed group.
The IDF has not issued a response.
هنا نشاهد اعتداء مليشيا #حماس – وتحديدًا من #وحدة_سهم – على خيام النازحين من عائلة المجايدة.
خلفية الاعتداء تعود إلى قيام عناصر حماس بقتل شاب من العائلة عمدًا ودون أي تهمة، ما دفع شقيق الضحية إلى قتل القاتل المنتسب لوحدة "سهم".
وبعد ذلك، فجرًا، حشدت #حماس عددًا كبيرًا من عناصرها… pic.twitter.com/9wo4yaQwHX— الناشط حمزة المصري (@hamza198708) October 3, 2025
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