During the early morning of Monday, May 19, 2025, the Israeli special forces allegedly carried out a covert operation on Al-Katiba street and Street 5, in the centre of Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, killing at least six people, including two men, one of whom has been identified as a militant, and a child.

Two of the victims killed were named as 44-year-old Ahmed Kamel Sarhan and 26-year-old Ibrahim Hamed Hussein al-Akkad.

AP News quoted Nasser Hospital which reported that at least six people, including Ahmed Sarhan, had been killed during the raid.

According to this announcement from al-Nasser Brigades and quoted by Shehab News, an Israeli special forces unit called the Musta’ribeen, disguised as women and using a civilian vehicle, stormed Sarhan’s home in an attempt to arrest and interrogate him. Ahmed Kamel reportedly realised the operation and engaged in an armed clash that ultimately led to his death. After a search of the house, his wife and child were reportedly detained during the operation. The Israeli forces also reportedly killed “another child” as they withdrew from the house.

@watanserb_news added that the Israeli forces pretended to be carrying food supplies so as to not arouse suspicion and that Sarhan’s wife and children were likely used as human shields by the special forces while retreating from the area, along with heavy fire from an Israeli aircraft on the eastern part of Khan Younis. In this regard, Shehab Agency also noted that an Israeli aircraft launched more than 30 raids over a period of 40 minutes to secure the withdrawal of the special forces, accompanied by intense fire from Israeli helicopters and tanks.

An eyewitness, whose words were reported by  @Sa7atPIBreaking on X/Twitter, described the incident in detail. He said that he was with his two children and they went to the safest place they could find, where they remained still for over ten minutes. After a short while, they heard loud noises but did not move. According to him, the soldiers entered the house and executed Sarhan. After that, they took a boy, approximately 10 or 11 years old, identified as Mohammad Sarhan and the mother, Mirvat Sarhan, who is in her 30s. The eyewitness added that as the soldiers withdrew, they fired at a tent located about 300 meters away. The same eyewitness added that a man had stepped outside to see what was happening outside of his tent and he was immediately executed at the doorstep. The victim was Ibrahim Hamed Hussein al-Akkad, a young man whose death was mourned by numerous friends and relatives, many of whom took to social media to express their grief and honour his memory.

In a Facebook post by “The official website of the Akkad family”, the family expressed grief with words of deep faith and sorrow: “We ask God Almighty to have mercy on him, forgive him, and wash away his sins with snow, water, and hail […] May he inspire his family with patience and solace. […] To God we belong, and to Him we shall return.” Mohammed Abu Essam mourned him as “a dear brother and friend”, while Abu Omar Pasha, a cousin, emphasized his faith that he would be accepted “into the highest ranks with the righteous.” Hamada Al-Akkad called it “a bloody and painful morning”, echoing the deep sense of loss felt across the city. Other relatives, including Sameer al-Akkad and Mohammed al-Akkad, expressed their grief and pride in Ibrahim’s memory on social media. They also shared a photo of Ibrahim depicting a young man with thick dark hair and a serious expression, wearing a khaki shirt and black trousers.

At around 6 a.m the body of Ahmed Kamel Sarhan arrived at Nasser Hospital, wrote Live Quds and Snd News Agency on X/Twitter.

He was known by his nom de guerre “Islam” and was reportedly a senior commander in the al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees in the Gaza Strip. Specifically, he was the head of the Special Action Unit. All sources referred to him as a combatant, in particular Shehab Agency on X/Twitter reported the official statement of the al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades confirming the death of their leader during an armed clash with the Israeli military while attempting to storm his house. As such, Ahmed Kamel Sarhan has been counted as a militant.

Multiple sources, including Sawt Beirut, Al-Jazeera Channel, Mohammed Juma and Khaled Al-Hamas Abu Al-Abd, described the aim of the operation as having been to capture or obtain information about Israeli hostages, but that the plan collapsed after Sarhan was ultimately killed.

Circulating images showed an empty camouflaged bag with the belongings of displaced people left by the Israeli special unit where they supposedly hid weapons. Another photo showed members of the Israeli unit disguised in women’s clothing while carrying firearms.

Ibrahim al-Akkad’s name has been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, names are matched to the ninth ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on June 23, 2025.

Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces.