On the night of Thursday, October 26, 2023, 12 civilians, all of them children and women, were killed and several were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike that struck the al-Hamayda family home in the Shaboura camp in western Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. The house was reported as being opposite the Abu Zuhri Detergents Company and behind Al-Kuwaiti Hospital.

Most of those killed were members of the al-Hamayda family. 62-year-old woman Sarah Saleh al-Hamaida (also known as Umm Abdullah) was killed, as was 38-year old woman Fatima Mufleh Hilal al-Arja.

33-year-old Ghada Atta Abdullah al-Hamayda was killed with her brother, 16-year-old Sami Atta Abdullah al-Hamaida and sister, 29-year-old Tasnim Atta Abdullah al-Hamayda. Another sister, 30-year-old Amal Atta Abdullah al-Hamayda was killed with her six-year-old daughter Mona Ammar Asaifan.

Another set of siblings were reported as killed in the strike. 17-year-old Nada Abdullah Atta al-Hamayda, was killed alongside her younger sister Nisreen Abdullah Atta al-Hamayda and her three brothers, six-year-old  Atta Abdullah Atta al-Hamayda, 14-year-old Ihab Abdullah Atta al-Hamayda and 16-year-old Khaled Abdullah Atta al-Hamaida.

The killed and injured victims were taken to the Kuwaiti Hospital.

Photographs from news outlets and social media showed the devastation wrought by the alleged bombardment. One photograph, shared by the Palestinian Information Center (@PalinofAr) shows a young girl with extensive wounds, covered in dust from the rubble, being treated by doctors. Another photograph shared by Facebook user Firas Abu Sharkh shows a similar image: another young girl covered in blood and dust, receiving medical care.

Photos and social media also emphasized the toll the deaths took on surviving family members. A photo shared by Facebook user Adelzourob73 shows Ammar Isaifan, the husband of Amal al-Hamayda and father of Mona, hugging the body of his departed wife at her funeral. A picture shared of the child, Mona, shows her with pigtails and bowties in her hair with a pink backpack, smiling.

Anwar Abu Ahmed posted on Facebook about the death of his aunt, Sarah Saleh al-Hamayda, saying: “Heaven and paradise are yours, my aunt.” Anwar expressed his belief that Sarah was now in paradise “the patience and suffering of these years in this mortal world, the world of affliction and misery.” For the entire family, he prayed for a peaceful afterlife.

No exact number of injuries has been made publically available. A video, shared by Twitter/X user @Mmt90_ shows a newborn infant–described as “just a few weeks old”– being rushed to a medical center to receive care. The child, despite being distressed and covered in dust, appears to have suffered no visible extensive injuries. A later picture does, however, show the child with an oxygen mask.

At least five people are pictured as injured in attached photographs.

Photos shared by multiple sources showed the site of the destruction. An entire apartment block had been reduced to rubble and significant damage can be seen on the surrounding residential buildings.

Where possible, names have been reconciled with published Palestinian Ministry of Health lists. With thanks to journalist Alexandre Horn from CheckNews for identifying relevant sources, and Data Tech for Palestine for centralising the datasets.

Where sources identified the belligerents, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.