The Helles clan is a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

extended family that became known in 2008 for its violent conflict with the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam ...

military government in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

. It is politically aligned with the Fatah party, which controls the politics of the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, and became a suspected key player in the July 26, 2008 bus bombing in Gaza City which killed five members of the

Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades ( ar, كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام, , Battalions of martyr Izz ad-Din al-Qassam; also spelt Izzedine or Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades; often shortened to Al-Qassam Brigades, IQB

, the armed wing of Hamas.

Fight against Hamas and Flight to Israel

On August 2, Hamas retaliated against the Hilles clan by raiding the predominantly Hilles neighborhood of Sajaiyeh in Gaza City; around nine people were killed in the ensuing gunfight and around 90 were injured. In the evening hours, the leader's brother of the clan (and former leader of the

Tanzim ''Tanzim'' ( ar, تنظيم ', "Organization") is a militant faction of the Palestinian Fatah movement. Overview The Tanzim militia, founded in 1995 by Yasser Arafat and other Fatah leaders to counter Palestinian Islamism, is widely consider ...

faction of Fatah), Ahmed Hilles, led around 188 members of the clan to Nahal Oz and two other border crossings between Gaza and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, where they laid down their weapons and were stripsearched by Israeli troops before they were allowed onto Israeli soil; many of the wounded who fled to the border crossing, including Ahmed Hilles, were admitted to hospitals. Four were admitted to

Soroka Medical Center Soroka University Medical Center ( he, המרכז הרפואי סורוקה, ''HaMerkaz HaRefu'i Soroka''), part of the Clalit Health Services Group, is the general hospital of Beersheba, Israel, it serves as the central hospital of the region and ...

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

for heavier injuries, while eleven others were admitted to

Barzilai Medical Center Barzilai Medical Center ( he, מרכז רפואי ברזילי, ''Merkaz Refu'i Barzilai''; ar, مركز برزيلاي الطبي) is a 617-bed hospital in Ashkelon in southern Israel. The hospital serves a population of 500,000, including a la ...

Ashkelon Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border wit ...

with lighter injuries. While in hospital, Ahmed Hilles stated that Hamas had attacked his clan "because it doesn’t want to see such a big and strong family like mine." Furthermore, he hinted that the Hilles clan would retaliate against Hamas.

Return of fugitives

On August 3, dozens of the Hilles clan militants were sent back to Gaza; despite an agreement between the Abbas government in the West Bank on not transferring Fatah-aligned fugitives back to Gaza, Mahmoud Abbas requested that the members of the Hilles clan be sent back. Upon arrival, some of the members of the clan were arrested and detained by Hamas militants. 87 other members of the clan were transported in a two-bus convoy to Jericho in the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

spokesperson Brig.-Gen.

Yoav Mordechai Yoav (Poli) Mordechai ( he, יואב מרדכי; born March 25, 1964, in Jerusalem) is a retired major general in the Israel Defense Forces. He concluded his 36-year career in the IDF in 2018 as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Terr ...

stated that there was no threat of a major escalation of hostilities arising from the transportation of the Hilles family members to Jericho.

References

{{reflist People from Gaza City Palestinian families