{{pp|small=yes}} {{short description|Apartment complex in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip}} {{distinguish|Hamad Medical City|Hamad Town}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Hamad City | native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|ar|مدينة حمد السكنية}}}} | native_name_lang = ar | settlement_type = Neighbourhood of Khan Yunis | image_skyline = Palestine refugees enforced to flee Hamad quarter in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, after receiving an evacuation warning from Israeli army 4.jpg | imagesize = | image_alt = | image_caption = Hamad in August 2024 during evacuations | image_flag = | flag_alt = | image_seal = | seal_alt = | image_shield = | shield_alt = | etymology = | nickname = {{hlist|Hamad}} | motto = | image_map = | map_alt = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Palestine Gaza Strip#Palestine | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = | pushpin_mapsize = 250 | pushpin_label_position = | coordinates = {{Coord|type:city|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | grid_name = Palestine grid | grid_position = 83/83 | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Palestine | subdivision_type1 = Governorate | subdivision_name1 = Khan Yunis Governorate | subdivision_type2 = City | subdivision_name2 = Khan Yunis | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | established_title = Opened | established_date = 2016 | founder = Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani | seat_type = | seat = | government_footnotes = | government_type = | governing_body = Ministry of Public Work and Housing | leader_party = Hamas | leader_title = | leader_name = | leader_title1 = | leader_name1 = | unit_pref = dunam | area_footnotes = | area_urban_footnotes = | area_rural_footnotes = | area_metro_footnotes = | area_note = | area_water_percent = | area_rank = | area_blank1_title = | area_blank2_title = | dunam_link = | area_total_km2 = 0.126 | area_total_dunam = 126 | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_urban_km2 = | area_rural_km2 = | area_metro_km2 = | area_blank1_km2 = | area_blank2_km2 = | area_total_ha = | area_land_ha = | area_water_ha = | area_urban_ha = | area_rural_ha = | area_metro_ha = | area_blank1_ha = | area_blank2_ha = | length_km = | width_km = | dimensions_footnotes = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = | population_as_of = | population_total = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_note = | population_demonym = Palestinians | timezone1 = EET | utc_offset1 = +2 | timezone1_DST = +3 | utc_offset1_DST = | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code_type = | area_code = | iso_code = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} --> }} '''Hamad City''' or '''Hamad Town''' ({{langx|ar|مدينة حمد السكنية|Madinat Hamad}}; {{literal translation|Hamad Residential City}}) is an apartment complex and neighbourhood in northwestern Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, Palestine. Named after its benefactor, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar, the complex was envisioned as a housing solution for middle to lower-income Palestinian families.
In 2024, Hamad City was the scene of a battle in the Gaza war. Many buildings in the complex were destroyed as a result of the war.
== Background == One of the outcomes of the Gaza Strip's long conflict with Israel was a perennial housing crisis. As a result of the 1948 Palestine war, many of the 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were forcibly expelled from their homes arrived in the Gaza Strip as refugees. After Hamas's rise to power in 2007, an Israeli-imposed blockade of the Gaza Strip severely limited the importation of building materials.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=320}} Military operations in 2009 and 2012 rendered 70,000 housing units uninhabitable.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=317}} In addition to these challenges, the United Nations found that population density in 2020 was {{convert|5,800|/km2|abbr=off}},{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=320}} with an annual birth rate of 60,000.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=321}} As the largest scale Gaza Strip housing project conceived in the aftermath of these conflicts, Hamad City was partly successful in addressing this housing shortage while adding thousands of jobs to the local economy.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=320}}{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=326}} However, it ultimately failed in its primary mission of providing truly affordable housing for the forlorn population of the Gaza Strip.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=326}}
== History == The area of the complex was the location of the former Israeli settlements of Katif and Netzer Hazani.<ref name="Qatari">{{cite news |last1=Fisher |first1=Gabe |title=Qatari Ruler Uses Historic Gaza Visit to Call On Palestinian Factions to Unite |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/gaza-offers-qatari-ruler-heros-welcome/ |access-date=22 May 2024 |work=The Times of Israel |date=23 October 2012}}</ref> The settlements were abandoned in 2005, along with the entire Gush Katif settlement bloc, as a result of Israel's disengagement from Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Arfa |first1=Orit |title=10 Years Since Losing Their Home - And Almost Their Religion |url=https://www.jpost.com/Magazine/10-years-since-losing-their-home-and-almost-their-religion-409915 |access-date=22 May 2024 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=23 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Israel's Disengagement from Gaza (2005) {{!}} Withdrawal, Map, & Hamas {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Israels-disengagement-from-Gaza |access-date=22 May 2024 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> The land subsequently fell under the administration of the Palestinian Authority.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 October 2023 |title=Timeline of Conflict Between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/conflict-between-israel-palestinians-gaza-2023-10-07/ |access-date=24 May 2024 |website=Reuters}}</ref>
The initiative to create Hamad City came as a direct result of the visit of Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, to the Gaza Strip in 2012.<ref name="Qatari"/> The visit, the first by a head of state to the Gaza Strip since Hamas fighters seized control in 2007, was condemned by Israel as seemingly granting legitimacy to a terror organisation.<ref name="Qatari"/> The Qatari government and Gaza's Ministry of Public Work and Housing (MPWH) took joint responsibility in managing the project,{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=322}} with the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza being formed at this time.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=318}} Al Thani, who envisioned the project as a housing solution for middle to lower-income Palestinians,<ref name="Named">{{cite news |last=Halabi |first=Einav |date=11 May 2023 |title=על שם האמיר: חיסול ב"עיר העניים" בעזה שנבנתה כמתנה מקטאר |trans-title=Named For the Emir: Targeted Killing In Gaza's 'City of the Poor' Built As Gift From Qatar |url=https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/skdlqv5vh |language=he-IL |work=Ynet |location= |access-date=22 May 2024 |quote=The population that lives in the complex is considered to be relatively young and not involved in terrorist activities.}}</ref> laid the foundation stone for the complex and provided $150 million to fund its construction.<ref name="Qatari"/><ref name="Strike">{{cite news |title=Israeli Strike Destroys Prestige Qatar-funded Gaza Complex |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231202-israeli-strike-destroys-prestige-qatar-funded-gaza-complex |access-date=21 May 2024 |work=France 24 |date=2 December 2023}}</ref> His idea was to sell the apartments at cost, while also providing an easy payment plan.<ref name="Named"/> Ninety percent of the construction plans were repurposed from a similar project in Gaza City.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=322}} Construction materials were almost impossible to import due to the blockade of the Gaza Strip, so the Qataris sought to bring these in through the border with Egypt.<ref name="Qatari"/> By 2013 however, a change in Egypt's leadership led to severe restrictions at the Rafah Border Crossing and a crackdown on the smuggling tunnels used to import materials into Gaza, slowing down construction considerably.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=324}} Hamad City was inaugurated in 2016, with the first thousand units being allocated to families who lost their homes as a result of the 2014 Gaza War.<ref name="Strike"/>{{efn|It is estimated that some 200,000 housing units were totally or partially destroyed as a result of the 2014 Gaza War alone;{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=317}} in a study concluded in January 2015, MPWH determined that 11,000 housing units in the Gaza Strip had been completely destroyed, 6,800 suffered severe damage, 5,700 had major damage, and 147,000 had minor damage; of those, 17,800 were classified as uninhabitable.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=320}}}} After delays involving a land dispute with a local Bedouin tribe,{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=326}} in February 2017 Ismail Haniyeh—then vice chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau—delivered a speech at the dedication ceremony of the second phase of the project, during which he announced the addition of 1,060 apartments.<ref name="Gift">{{cite news |last1=Osmo |first1=Liad |last2=Levy |first2=Elior |date=11 February 2017 |title=Qatari-funded Gaza Neighborhood Advances |trans-title= |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4920943,00.html |language=en |work=Ynet |location= |access-date=28 May 2024}}</ref> A third phase, which was to encompass {{convert|800,120|m2|mi2}} and include playgrounds and car parks, was in the planning stages. Three main roads adjacent to the complex were repaired and developed.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=321}}
While the complex generally attracted a younger demographic which was not inclined to resistance activity,<ref name="Named"/> ''Maariv'' claimed that Hamas operatives and officials were known to have domiciled there.<ref name="Significant">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=3 March 2024 |title=פעולה לילית משמעותית: צה"ל הפציץ בשכונת יוקרה בה גרים בכירי חמאס |trans-title=Significant Night Operation: IDF Bombs Luxury Neighborhood Where Senior Hamas Officials Live |url=https://www.maariv.co.il/news/military/Article-1080609 |language=he-IL |work=Maariv |location= |access-date=22 May 2024}}</ref> On 10 May 2023—the second day of Operation Shield and Arrow—the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck an apartment in the complex belonging to the sister of Palestinian Islamic Jihad's rocket division head, killing him and two of PIJ's commanders.<ref name="Named"/>
=== Israel–Gaza war === {{Main|Siege of Khan Yunis|Hamad City incursion}} thumb|People evacuating from Hamad in August 2024 On 2 December 2023, after a week-long cessation of fighting in the Gaza war, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began bombing targets in Khan Yunis, including in Hamad City.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shurafa |first1=Wafaa |last2=Mroue |first2=Bassem |last3=Frankel |first3=Julia |title=Israeli Airstrikes Hit Gaza After Truce Ends, Sirens Warning of Hamas Rockets Heard |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/israeli-airstrikes-hit-gaza-after-truce-ends-sirens-warning-of-hamas-rockets-heard |access-date=21 May 2024 |work=PBS |location=Deir al-Balah |agency=Associated Press |date=1 December 2023}}</ref> The IAF conducted five airstrikes in the complex within a space of two minutes.<ref name="Strike"/> Bombs hit one building after another, largely destroying them.<ref name="Strike"/> Residents were warned to leave the area via leaflets before the strikes commenced.<ref>{{cite news |last1=El-Bursh |first1=Adnan |last2=Gribben |first2=Paul |title=In Pictures: Development Near Southern City Hit By Israeli Strikes |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-middle-east-67584895?pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:2cb6486c-2518-4057-85d9-b771ec9e192b&pinned_post_asset_id=6569f9f087855b2dac7d2cda&pinned_post_type=share |access-date=21 May 2024 |work=BBC |date=2 December 2023}}</ref>
On 3 March 2024, after conducting a series of attacks on nearby Deir al-Balah, the IDF began to lay siege to Hamad City. By this time, the neighbourhood was serving as a shelter for additional thousands of refugees who had been displaced as a result of IDF operations in northern Gaza.<ref name="Encircles">{{cite web |last= |first= |date=3 March 2024 |title=צה"ל מכתר את 'מדינת חמד' בצפון מערב חאן יונס |trans-title=IDF Encircles 'Madinat Hamad' in Northwest Khan Yunis |url=https://www.srugim.co.il/903866-%d7%a6%d7%94%d7%9c-%d7%9e%d7%9b%d7%aa%d7%a8-%d7%90%d7%aa-%d7%9e%d7%93%d7%99%d7%a0%d7%aa-%d7%97%d7%9e%d7%93-%d7%91%d7%a6%d7%a4%d7%95%d7%9f-%d7%9e%d7%a2%d7%a8%d7%91-%d7%97%d7%90%d7%9f-%d7%99%d7%95 |language=he-IL |website=Srugim |location= |access-date=23 May 2024}}</ref> The IDF set up a checkpoint in the neighbourhood and directed residents to evacuate to Al-Mawasi or Deir al-Balah.<ref>{{cite web |title=Iran Update, March 3, 2024 |url=https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/iran-update-march-3-2024 |website=Critical Threats |access-date=23 May 2024}}</ref> A total of fifty targets in the district and in neighbouring al-Qarara were hit by airstrikes and artillery within the space of six minutes.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Varshalomidze |first1=Tamila |title=Residents Trapped in Khan Younis's Hamad City and al-Qarara Appeal For Evacuation |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2745539 |access-date=21 May 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |date=3 March 2024}}</ref> During the eleven days of fighting which ensued, specialised Egoz, Maglan, Shayetet 13 and Givati reconnaissance units methodically went through what remained of every building in the complex, clearing them floor by floor.<ref name="Terrorists">{{cite news |last1=Greenwood |first1=Hanan |title=Where Terrorists Hide In Luxury Homes: A Visit To the Qatari-built Hamas Stronghold |url=https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/03/13/an-upscale-neighborhood-teeming-with-terrorists-a-visit-to-the-qatari-build-hamas-stronghold/ |access-date=23 May 2024 |work=Israel Hayom |date=13 March 2024}}</ref> In one of the buildings, soldiers found Colonel Yonatan Steinberg's army-issued weapon, along with personal effects of Israelis who were abducted at the outset of the war.<ref name="Terrorists"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2156568/ |title=בלב השכונה היוקרתית בחאן יונס: אותר הנשק של אל"ם יהונתן שטיינברג הי"ד |last=Toledano |first=Elhanan |date=10 March 2024 |access-date=23 May 2024 |website=jdn.co.il |language=he-IL |trans-title=In the Heart of Khan Yunis' Luxury Neighbourhood: Colonel Yonatan Steinberg's Weapon Was Found |quote=The weapon of the Nahal Brigade commander who was killed at the beginning of the war, Colonel Yonatan Steinberg, was found in recent days by the commando brigade in 'Hamad City' in Khan Yunis. Along with the weapon of the senior officer, the fighters located effects of Israeli abductees.}}</ref> IDF commanders who engaged elite Nukhba fighters in the neighbourhood declared that it was the toughest battle zone of the war.<ref name="Terrorists"/> Hamad City was turned into ruins as a result of IDF operations there.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bohbot |first1=Amir |title=How the IDF Dismantled Gaza's Qatari-funded Terror Neighborhood |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-793457 |access-date=30 June 2024 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=24 March 2024|quote=Hamas senior officials and their families moved into this new and opulent neighborhood, which then turned into ruins after the IDF entered as part of the ground operation to dismantle Hamas terror infrastructure in the area.}}</ref> A resident of the complex who returned there in April in order to move back into her severely-damaged home explained that "it is better than tents ... We don't have a city any more, only rubble. There is absolutely nothing left ... There were no walls or windows. Most of the towers were completely blown up."<ref>{{cite news |title=Khan Younis 'Smells Like Death' as Palestinians Return to Devastated Homes |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/4/8/khan-younis-smells-like-death-as-palestinians-return-to-devastated-homes |access-date=27 May 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |date=8 April 2024}}</ref>
On 11 August 2024, Israel ordered the evacuation of Khan Younis, including Hamad City, as they considered it a combat zone. It was one of the largest evacuation orders issued during the war to that point.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ambrose |first=Tom |date=11 August 2024|title=Israel-Gaza war: Israel Issues Massive Evacuation Order in Khan Younis – As it Happened |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/aug/11/israel-gaza-war-live-mahmoud-abbas-missile-strikes-school |access-date=16 January 2026 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
== Description == Hamad City is situated in the northwestern part of Khan Yunis, adjacent to Deir al-Balah.<ref name="Encircles"/> It consisted of three thousand apartments divided among fifty-three sand-coloured apartment blocks.<ref name="Named"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Lipkin |first=Sapir |date=2 December 2023 |title=תקיפות אינטנסיביות בח'אן יונס, חוסל מפקד גדוד שג'אעייה |trans-title=Intense Attacks in Khan Yunis, Shuja'iyya Battalion Commander Killed |url=https://www.mako.co.il/news-military/6361323ddea5a810/Article-3389888b53c2c81026.htm |language=he-IL |work=Keshet 12 |location= |access-date=23 May 2024 |quote=The project includes more than fifty buildings with a height of five storeys each, including about three thousand housing units.}}</ref> Each building consisted of a ground floor and five-storeys above it, with four apartments on each floor.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=322}} The apartments came in three sizes: {{convert|100|m2|ft2}}, {{convert|115|m2|ft2}} and {{convert|130|m2|ft2}}. While the complex featured its own schools, a mosque, shops and a garden area,<ref name="Strike"/><ref name="Gift"/> some residents noted the lack of a health clinic, food market and police station. Other complainants referred to sub-standard electrical systems and bad quality doors and floor tiles, as well as sewage backups. Some residents reported being unfamiliar with such modern amenities as cooktops and washing machines.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=323}}
=== Eligibility requirements === Although the complex was initially intended as a housing solution for middle to lower-income Palestinian families affected by homelessness, assertions were made over time that applicants who demonstrated an ability to make house payments were given preferential access by the MPWH.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=323}} The complex, which has been described as "luxurious"<ref name="Significant"/> "prestigious"<ref name="Strike"/> and "affluent",<ref name="Terrorists"/> only had fifty of its units allocated to the truly destitute.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=326}} The MPWH required an applicant to pay an initial {{$}}10, and then be able to make a {{$}}1,000 down payment, along with a {{$}}170 monthly installment. A personal interview and background check was required, with one guarantor required for a government employee and two for self-employed applicants. The average cost of an apartment was {{$}}40,000{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=324}} with payments required to be made through the Hamas-controlled Commercial Bank or Islamic National Bank.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=323}} A cash payment in full would lower the cost to {{$}}32,000.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=324}} Preference seems to have been given to party activists and government officials.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=323}} Professional groups such as teachers, engineers and their family and friends seemed to coalesce around specific buildings. One religious resident succeeded in coercing his less observant neighbours to remove concrete benches from the garden area because he was interested in promoting gender segregation amongst the complex's youth.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=322}} While the initial expectation that apartments should be granted outright to families whose homes were destroyed never materialised, after the political and economic situation worsened the MPWH did agree to lower the monthly payment to {{$}}130, and deferred payments for two years.{{sfn|Elkahlout|2020|p=324}}
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== Sources == * {{cite journal |last1=Elkahlout |first1=Ghassan |title=Post-conflict Housing Reconstruction In the Gaza Strip: A Case Study of Agency-driven Housing in Sheikh Hamad City |journal=International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis |location=Bingley |date=2020 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=317–330 |doi=10.1108/IJHMA-03-2019-0034 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2534214806 |id={{ProQuest|2534214806}} |access-date=24 May 2024|url-access=subscription }}
== External links == {{commons category}} * {{cite AV media |people= |date=December 2023 |title=Moment Israeli Strikes Hit Residential Complex in Gaza's Khan Yunis |trans-title= |type=video |language= |via=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwWzxzYNfMA |access-date=27 May 2024 |archive-url= |archive-date= |format= |time= |location= |publisher=Agence France-Presse |id= |isbn= |oclc= |quote=}}
{{Khan Yunis Governorate}}
{{authority control}}
Category:2016 establishments in Palestine Category:Buildings and structures in Khan Yunis Category:Khan Yunis Governorate Category:Mixed-income housing Category:Neighborhoods in Palestine Category:Residential buildings in Palestine Category:Buildings and structures destroyed during the Gaza war