Airwars assessment
At least 19 people, including a journalist and eight children, were killed and dozens were injured, including two infants, by alleged Israeli military bombardment on the evening of December 22nd 2023 on the home of the Khalifa family on El-Eshreen Street in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
Muthana Najjar reported in a post on Facebook that the house was hit with three missiles and was home to 50 displaced people at the time of the incident. @warfareanalysis reported in a post on Twitter/X that the incident was caused by Israeli shelling rather than an airstrike.
The strike hit the Nuseirat home of Al-Aqsa’s TV director, Mohammad Ramadan Khalifa (also referred to as Mohammad Al Saidi), killing 19, including him and many members of the family. Victims were transported to Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital.
A post by a relative of the family (هذيان ذاكرة, source listed as a.ar.hk) listed the members of the Khalifa family that were killed in the airstrike, including Suzanne Ramadan Khalifa and Shada Ramadan Khalifa.
The same source identified pharmacist Dr Iman (Khalifa) Abu Batnin, the wife of Mohammed Ramadan Khalifa, also killed alongside their five children: three girls, Sana Mohammad Khalifa, Hala Mohammad Khalifa and Hana Mohammad Khalifa, and two boys, Abdullah Mohammad Khalifa and Youssef Mohammad Khalifa were also killed in the incident. These five victims all appear to be the children of the journalist Mohammed Ramadan Khalifa, however multiple sources specifically reported that only three of his children were killed in the incident.
a.ar.hk also reported that her uncle Muhammad Youssef Ali al-Attar, who was a professor, was killed alongside her aunt Zahr Youssef Ali al-Attar, who was also an educator, and her aunt’s husband Ahmed Hamad (Abu Al-Abd). Their son, Shada Khalifa’s husband, Abdul Latif Ahmed Hamad, who was an engineer, and was reportedly killed alongside his sisters Dr Alaa Ahmed Hamad and professor Duaa Ahmed Hamad. Another victim, described by a.ar.hk as her sister’s husband, Mr Adham Ahmed Al-Batniji, was killed alongside his son, Adam (or Adham) Adham Al-Batniji.
Siblings Basim Yahya Khalifa and Ahmed Yahya Khalifa were also among those killed.
Two infants survived the strike: 11-month-old Ahmed Mohamed Khalifa, son of Mohammad Ramadan Khalifa, and 9-month-old Ahmed Abdel Latif Hamad, the infant son of Shada Ramadan Khalifa and Abdel Latif Ahmed Hamad, who was displaced with the journalist’s wife’s family. The strike “threw them outside the house” according to source Muthana Naiiar. Both have been listed as injured based on the description and images of them in the hospital.
Mohammad Khalifa’s father, who is 65 years old, recounted the incident of the bombing to Al Jazeera. He described the moment, stating, “We were sitting quietly and preparing ourselves for sleep. The house and everyone in it was bombed”. He talked about the death of his son, “My eldest son was killed while he was working as a journalist, along with his children”.
The father also mentioned the circumstances in their home at the time of the attack, indicating that the house was occupied by approximately 50 people, including displaced relatives and friends from the north. The Khalifa family had been hosting the Al Asar family and Hamad family at the time of the incident, according to Al Jazeera. He also mentioned a child who survived the bombing.
Friends and relatives posted tributes to the victims on social media. A university friend of Shada Ramadan Khalifa, named Roba A El-Farra, described Shada in a post on Facebook as “one of the kindest and most affectionate people I have ever known in my life”. She described Shada’s joy at the birth of her first son Ahmed and her dream of completing her Master’s degree. Roba wrote of her disbelief at the death of her friend and distress that Shada had died while her infant son survived, writing “I still can’t understand it”.
Shada, Suzan and Mohammed’s sister, responding to posts on the account a.ar.hk on Facebook, paid tribute to two of the young victims, brothers Bassim and Ahmed Yahya Khalifa. Describing Bassim she wrote, “You were a true man, despite your young age, an example of politeness and respect that is rarely matched in our time” and of Ahmed she wrote that she had named her own son after him because of her love for him. Alongside the post, this family member shared images of the boys, dressed in suits for a special occasion – both appear to be under the age of 18.
Many accounts reported Mohammed Ramadan Khalifa’s death and described his career as a director and a journalist. He had been the director of a TV series called “Al-Fada’i” that had aired during Ramadan a number of years prior, according to reports by Nabd News.
The article on the incident by Al Jazeera included images that showed the immense scale of destruction to the family home and the surrounding area and civilians can be seen staring into the rubble left behind.
AP News mentioned that a funeral was held at Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital’s courtyard the next day, while rescue teams kept searching for survivors.
Where possible, names have been reconciled with published Palestinian Ministry of Health lists released between October 26th but before the July 24th list (which has not yet been checked by Airwars teams). Airwars has not included the ages listed for the majority of matches, as the ages listed in the MoH list do not match the descriptions of the victims.
Where sources mentioned a belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to Israeli forces.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (21)
Summary
Sources (50) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (52) [ collapse]
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Source: Panorama Alnusirat -
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Source: @RedaYasen2021 -
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Source: @Jales_tinian2 -
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Source: Nuseirat Panorama -
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Source: Youssef Muhaisen -
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Source: Ehab Elattar -
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Source: muthana najjar -
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Source: Amira Ahmed -
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Source: Amira Ahmed -
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Source: a.ar.hk -
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Source: a.ar.hk -
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Source: Maysarah Batniji -
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Source: @channeldraw -
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Source: @ayshaaa_48 -
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Source: @warfareanalysis -
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Source: Al Jazeera News -
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Source: Al Jazeera News -
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Source: Al Jazeera News -
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Source: Al Jazeera News -
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Source: Al Jazeera News -
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Source: Al Jazeera News -
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Source: CNN News -
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Source: @jala_leb -
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Source: @theshantanumum -
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