The Yakhini massacre () was a massacre carried out by Hamas on the morning of 7 October 2023, in Moshav Yakhini near the northern Gaza Strip, as part of a surprise attack on Israel. Several residents of the moshav were murdered in the massacre.
Background
On the morning of 7 October 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. Under the cover of thousands of rockets fired into Israel, hundreds of militants infiltrated multiple Israeli communities and military facilities.
Massacre
At around 7:40 a.m. on 7 October 2023, a squad of Hamas militants raided the moshav through a side gate at the entrance, because the main gate was locked due to a community decision by the traditional community to close the gates on Saturday.
The militants murdered four people, and later murdered three other men, one of them in his home and one of them while walking his dog. In addition, a Border Police officer was killed in an exchange of fire during an assault on one of the buildings.
The moshav leader was in Thailand at the time, and conducted the containment battle against them through a local Chabad house, until he got a flight to Israel. A video filmed from a security camera at the moshav gate shows the terrorists, armed with assault rifles, unloading from a pickup truck and raiding the moshav. A short time later, one of them is seen shooting at two young women who were taking cover behind a vehicle at the entrance gate to the moshav.
One of the murdered was Yehonatan Hajabi, whose father Nir Hajabi, a battalion commander, came to command his reserve battalion even before his funeral, saying: "I will find the time to mourn my son – now we have to fight."