Airwars assessment
An alleged Israeli airstrike shortly before 10:55 PM on Saturday October 21st 2023, killed at least 13 civilians and injured 17 others sheltering in a café in Khan Younis.
Shehab Agency was the first to report the incident at 10:55 PM, sharing images of the injured men being transported on stretchers. At 11:32 PM Safa News correspondent reported about five killed and dozens of wounded. The civilians were killed and wounded in the Rio Café at the end of Jalal Street in the city of Khan Yunis.
The videos shared on social media and images shared by Ahmed Wael showed that the residential building that housed the café was destroyed and photos showed men attempting to extinguish a fire. Numerous people had to leave due to fear of further collapse. Photos of men digging out civilians from the rubble were shared by Albayan News.
RassdNewsN reported the lowest number of civilian casualties at seven while Alkhaleej Online said 18 were killed, and numerous other sources cited 12-13 people killed. Palestine Today TV mentioned “a large number of citizens” killed in its report. Various sources on Twitter/X named listed the names of those who were killed and many condolence messages were shared with names and photographs of most of the men who were killed. All the civilians in the café were known to be sheltering there as they had been displaced from their hometowns by previous Israeli attacks.
The number of injured civilians was reported to be 17 according to @Jales_tinian2’s tweet. Photos of women and men crying looking over a young dead boy were shared as well as videos of injured civilians being carried on stretchers by other civilians and Palestinian Red Crescent medical workers were shared across social media. Many of those injured were noted to be in a “serious condition”. They were brought to the Nasser Hospital.
Numerous members of the Abu Rouk and Khishan family were killed in this incident.
A paramedic Rizq Wael Abu Rouk collapsed after finding his 47-year-old father Wael Rizq Mustafa Abu Rouk (spelled also as Ruk, Rock) amongst those killed as he was being brought into the hospital. @AlanWkalt tweeted that “he is heartbroken” and videos taken by Al Jazeera Arabic showing the paramedic crying, shaking, and passing out at the realization of his loss. He cried: “Follow me, O world, my father is paralyzed” and said: “I remove everyone, but my father does not remove me”.
Wael Rizq Abu Rouk was also a member of the founding council of the Cooperation Society of Beekeepers in the Gaza Strip. They shared a photograph of him with his colleagues and said they ‘mourned’ his death.
The late Wael was also one of the cousins of Belal M. Abu Rouk who in a Facebook post shared news of the death of his six cousins. The other five were named as Junaid Jamal Abu Rouk (22 years old), 35-year-old Talal Hamdan Abdullah Abu Rouk, Jamal Hamdan Abu Rouk Qudeih, Hamada Hatem Abu Rouk, and 37-year-old Ahmad Barham Abu Rajilah. He shared a condolence message with photos of them saying: “They said goodbye to the world and everyone in it forever. A thousand mercy and light on your pure souls… We will meet in heaven, God willing. What a heartache”.
Another cousin, Ahmed Abu Rock also shared news of the passing of his cousins in a Facebook post with a photograph of four of their bodies wrapped in white cloth lying outside a building. Jamal Hamdan Abu Rock Qudeih and Talal Hamdan Abu Rock were brothers. Hassan Rouk, a brother of the late Jamal, posted his picture and added “May God have mercy on you, Abu Abdullah ♥️”
Ahmad Barham Abu Rajila was referred to as “a cadre of the Fatah movement in the Khuza’a area”. A condolence message shared by Mohammed said: “Words cannot express your eulogy, my beloved and kind-hearted person. May God have mercy on you to the gardens of eternity, my friend Ahmed Barham Abu Rujaila.”
19-year-old Bilal Assad Ashour Saadiq and 27-year-old Akram Hani Saeed Salah, two cousins, were also killed in the airstrike. Their uncles shared the news of their passing on Facebook and said “We ask God Almighty to cover them with His vast mercy.” Bilal’s father, Dr. Asaad Saadiq, is the Head of the Dermatology Department at Nasser Medical Complex and his colleague Aziz shared a post sending him his condolences for the death of his eldest son. Hussein Salah Abu Anas also wrote a condolence message to Dr. Saadiq.
In another post, Abu Hozefa shared that Bilal was a “beloved friend and memorizer of the Book of God”. Mohamed Ahmed shared a post where he expressed his condolences for his “colleague and friend” Bilal Sadiq. He said “the eyes shed tears and the heart grieves, and we are saddened by your departure. We only say what pleases our Lord. We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return. Oh God, grant us beautiful patience. May God accept you in the highest heavens and gather us with you in the greatest gardens of paradise.”
In the images, the late Bilal appears as a cheerful young man with a broad smile, and in one of them, he is seen in white traditional clothes with similarly dressed friends. His cousin Akram Salah is seen as a young bearded man in black clothes.
Ahmad Sadq shared the news of the passing of his cousins mentioned above as well as his neighbors Khalil Farouk Khalil Al-Qadi (31 years old) and Abdul Rahman Suhail Farawneh (25 years old). Another condolence message was shared for Khalil saying: “I was shocked by the news of your martyrdom, Khalil Al-Qadi (…) May God have mercy on you, Khalil. Peace be upon your soul, my beloved.” His cousin Tarek shared that he was “kind, brother and friend with a sweet laugh”.
27-year-old Mazen Magdi Hamdan Abu Hamad was also killed in the airstrike. His cousin Nisreen shared a message saying: “Loss is closer to those we love. Oh God, accept him in heaven and pour patience on his mother’s heart.” His brother also shared kind words calling him a “brother, beloved, and friend.” In the numerous images shared by relatives and friends, he is seen as a young attractive man with a broad smile.
Two brothers, 25-year-old Youssef Saif al-Din Youssef Khishan and 17-year-old Muhammad Saif al-Din Youssef Khishan were also killed in the deadly attack. Their brother Khaled shared this news on Facebook along with photographs of both of them, looking very similar.
Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.
Where some sources identified the belligerents, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
Due to the scale and urgency of Airwars’ assessment process, all images have been automatically uploaded to each assessment with the graphic filter applied to protect users. We have also included all images identified from the sources, which may also include any imagery of combatants.
The incident occured at approximately 10:55 pm local time.
The victims were named as:
Family members (2)
Family members (5)
The victims were named as:
Summary
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