Editing Ashkelon (section)

=== Origins of Hamas ===
{{further | List of towns and villages depopulated during the 1947–1949 Palestine war |Towns and villages in Mandatory Palestine }}
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Most of the founding members of Hamas were born in [[Mandatory Palestine]], outside of the [[Gaza strip]], or have parents who were. Many of them were from villages that were in the vicinity of present-day Ashkelon, including most of the party's leaders:

* Founding leader [[Ahmed Yassin]] was born in [[Al-Jura]].<ref name="Yassin Jura" >{{cite book | last=Kabahā | first=Muṣṭafá | title= The Palestinian People: Seeking Sovereignty and State | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=QyTCNAEACAAJ | year=2014 |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers, Incorporated | isbn=978-1-58826-882-2 | access-date=28 October 2020 | archive-date= 19 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219083406/https://books.google.com/books?id=QyTCNAEACAAJ | url-status=live | page=323 }}</ref>
* Yassin's successor [[Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi]] was born in [[Yibna]].<ref name="Aziz Gaza history" >{{cite book| title= Gaza: A History | publisher= [[Oxford University Press]] | page=97 | author-link= Jean-Pierre Filiu | first= Jean-Pierre |last=Filiu}}</ref>
* The father of [[Faiq Al-Mabhouh|Faiq]] and [[Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh]] was from [[Bayt Tima]].<ref name="Mabhouh - AJ Ency" >{{cite news| title= Fayeq Al-Mabhouh...a police general in Gaza who was assassinated by Israel | url = https://aja.ws/7ff59c | access-date=30 April 2024 | work=Encyclopedia | agency=Al Jazeera | date=19 March 2024 }}</ref>
* [[Ismail Haniyeh]]'s parents [[1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight|migrated]] from [[Al-Jura]] to [[Gaza Strip#1948|Gaza]] in [[1948 Palestine war|1948]].<ref name=bbcprofile>{{cite news|title=Profile: Hamas PM Ismail Haniya |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4655146.stm |newspaper=BBC |date=14 December 2006|access-date=25 June 2024|archive-date=18 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218062008/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4655146.stm |url-status=live}}</ref><!-- possibly also Jura -->
* [[Yahya Sinwar]] was born in the [[Khan Yunis refugee camp|Khan Yunis]] in [[Occupation of the Gaza Strip by the United Arab Republic|Egyptian-occupied Gaza]] in 1962 to a family who [[1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight|left]] Ashkelon (then called Al-Majdal) during the [[1948 Palestine War]].<ref name="britannica_Yahya-Sunwar">{{Cite web | date= 2024-01-28 | title= Yahya Sinwar {{!}} Hamas Leader, Biography, & Facts {{!}} Britannica | url= https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yahya-Sunwar |access-date=2024-02-01 | website= www.britannica.com | language=en | archive-date=28 January 2024 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240128125507/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yahya-Sunwar | url-status=live }}</ref>
* One of few exceptions is [[Khaled Mashal]], who was born in [[Silwad]], in the [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|Jordanian]] ruled [[West Bank]].<ref name="2008a" >{{cite journal | title = Khalid Mishal: The Making of a Palestinian Islamic Leader Interviewed by Mouin Rabbani | date = 2008 | volume = 37 | issue = 1 | last = Rabbani | first = Mouin | author-link = Mouin Rabbani | url = https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/42013 | journal = [[Journal of Palestine Studies]] | publisher = Institute for Palestine Studies | pages = 61 }}</ref>

[[File:Rocketpopmap.jpeg |thumb|center| Ashkelon is located in the 20–30 seconds' run to safety area due to [[BM-21 Grad]] rocket range. ]]