Murder of the Hatuel Family

The attack occurred on the day of the Likud members’ referendum on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan. Residents of Gush Katif were traveling to central Israel to urge Likud members to vote against the plan, and the Hatuel family was also on its way to campaign against it.[1] Their car carried a poster reading, “A Jewish heart votes against.”[1]

Tali Hatuel lived with her family in Moshav Katif and worked as a social worker.[1] A 2008 interview says that she planned to collect her daughters from school, take them to an ultrasound appointment in Ashkelon, and meet her husband, David, at a demonstration against the disengagement plan.[6]

On May 2, 2004, two terrorists ambushed the family’s car near the Kissufim route in the Gaza Strip. A contemporaneous report described the terrorists approaching from the south, firing first at an armored vehicle carrying a CNN crew, then opening fire on the Hatuel family’s white Citroën near Mor Bridge; it also reported that an explosive device was detonated near the car.[1] The car spun off the road after the shooting.[2]

Tali Hatuel and her daughters Hila, Hadar, Roni, and Merav were killed. The daughters were reported as 11, nine, seven, and two years old, respectively. Ynet described Tali as eight months pregnant, while a 2008 interview said she was nine months pregnant.[1][6] The contemporaneous account said an IDF force from Armored Corps Battalion 9 killed the terrorists. Two soldiers were lightly wounded in the exchange and a civilian was moderately wounded.[1]

Other records also place the attack on May 2 and report that five members of the family were killed and three other people were wounded.[7][3] The names and ages of the daughters are not consistent across every account: a 2012 report gives Shira, age seven, and Meirav, age three, where contemporaneous reporting identifies Roni, seven, and Merav, two.[1][8]

David Hatuel was away at a school managers’ meeting when he heard that an attack had taken place near Kissufim. After he could not reach Tali by phone, he drove toward the scene with her father; their car was intercepted, and they were told what had happened. He later recalled initially being unable to accept that no one had survived.[6]

The attack was followed by intensified Israeli military operations in Gaza. During those operations, two armored vehicles carrying explosives blew up, killing 13 Israeli soldiers. The IDF subsequently began a campaign in Rafah targeting terrorist infrastructure, including tunnels used to smuggle explosives from Egypt into Gaza.[9]

In 2012, Gihad Abu Daher was accused of gathering information about the Kissufim route and the presence of Israeli forces to facilitate the attack. He pleaded guilty under an agreement to offenses including five attempted murders, passing information to terrorist organizations, and attempted assistance, and received a 23-year prison sentence.[8] The prosecution cited evidentiary difficulties in pursuing all nine sections of the indictment.[8]

Relatives established memorial projects in the family’s memory, including a Torah scroll and a study hall in Ashkelon. The Tali Beyad Rama nonprofit helped couples obtain fertility treatment; by the time of the cited article, 600 babies had reportedly been born with its assistance.[10]

Contemporaneous Ynet reporting and the later Mako report date the attack to May 2, 2004.[1][8] An Encyclopedia.com account instead dates the murder to March 2004.[9] A 2023 Ynet retrospective gives May 9, 2004.[4] The May 2 date is also recorded by the U.S. State Department and Jewish Virtual Library.[7][3]

Other details vary between reports. Ynet described Tali as eight months pregnant, while a 2008 interview said nine months.[1][6] The interview gave Hila, Hadar, and Roni as ages 10, eight, and six, whereas contemporaneous Ynet reporting gave their ages as 11, nine, and seven.[1][6] Mako instead called the seven-year-old Shira and gave Meirav’s age as three.[8]

Responsibility has been attributed to different organizations in different reports. Ynet identified the two terrorists as Ibrahim Hamad, an operative of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s al-Quds Brigades, and Faisal Abu Maghrea, associated with the Popular Resistance Committees. It also reported that an al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander characterized the attack as a response to other events and denied a connection to the referendum.[1] A U.S. State Department report attributed the perpetrators to the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and Islamic Jihad, while the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reported claims of responsibility by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees.[2][11] Jewish Virtual Library instead says Fatah and Islamic Jihad claimed joint responsibility.[3]

Later reports appear to use different transliterations for the same senior Islamic Jihad figure killed during the opening strike of Operation Shield and Arrow. Hebrew Ynet calls him Jihad Ghannam and says he was involved in planning the attack, while Ynet News renders the name Jahed Ahnam and likewise says he was involved.[4][5] A Times of Israel live report used the form Jihad Ghanem and attributed to Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the claim that he orchestrated the killings.[12]

A separate public dispute concerned whether an Israeli High Court ruling had prevented the demolition of buildings later used as cover in the attack. A Times of Israel report, recounting a Haaretz inquiry, said the court had issued a temporary injunction while awaiting the state’s response, rather than a final ruling refusing demolition. It also reported that state legal officials had reservations and that the state did not pursue the matter further.[13]