Airwars assessment
On Sunday, 29 October 2023, between 30 and 33 civilians, including at least eight children and three women, were killed as a result of an alleged Israeli attack on their home located near to Abdullah Azzam Mosque in the al-Sabra neighbourhood, near to Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip.
61-year-old Sheikh Juma al-Khor was killed in the incident alongside his son, 33-year-old Bilal Juma al-Khor (Abu Juma) and Bilal’s daughter, seven-year-old Nadia Bilal Juma al-Khor. A Facebook post from Ayman Abusanad reported on the death of “uncle Juma” and his sons (possible indicating another of Juma’s sons was killed).
Abdullah Barghout Abu Muhammad wrote a tribute to the late Sheikh Juma and his son, sharing a headshot of Bilal, a young man smiling to the camera. Ramzy A Elbanna also posted a memorial to his “brother, my love, my companion, and my lifelong friend” Bilal and his “innocent, angelic daughter” Nadia along with an image of Bilal and Nadia, a young girl in a purple dress making a heart with her hands.
Three brothers, 39-year-old Abdul Misbah al-Khor, 35-year-old Mahmoud Misbah al-Khor and 37-year-old Saeed Misbah al-Khor, were also among the victims killed in the attack.
A Facebook post from Momen Yousef Al Kamoni and other social media users wrote that three brothers, Abdul, Saaed and Mahmoud, were killed along with their entire families, sharing the images of the three middle-aged bearded men. Amongst local sources, the names of Saeed’s wife and five children were found but the names of both Abdul and Mahmoud’s “entire [families]” were not found.
Saeed al-Khor’s wife Fadwa Mustafa Jaber was killed, along with their children: three daughters, 16-year-old Sjood Saeed al-Khor, 13-year-old Sarah Saeed al-Khor and nine-year-old Siham Saeed al-Khor, and two sons 12-year-old Misbah Saeed al-Khor and six-year-old Khaled Saeed al-Khor.
Airwars has quantified Abdul and Mahmoud’s “entire families” as including two members at a minimum, however using the Ministry of Health list of fatalities this death toll could be higher. Referring to the Ministry of Health list, Airwars identified four children listed by their surname as potential children of Mahmoud al-Khor: 14-year-old Layan Mahmoud Misbah al-Khor, 11-year-old Jana Mahmoud Misbah al-Khor, five-year-old Siham Mahmoud Misbah al-Khor, and 16-year-old Obaida Al-Jarrah Mahmoud Misbah Al-Khor.
Airwars was also able to identify two-year-old Nisamah Abdul Misbah al-Khor, three-year-old Izz al-Din Abdul Misbah al-Khor, seven-year-old Ayah Abdul Misbah al-Khor, and 12-year-old Dima Abdul Misbah al-Khor potentially as the children of Abdul al-Khor who may also have been killed in this incident using the Ministry of Health list.
As these names were not otherwise mentioned in open sources, they have not been included below in Airwars’ list of fatalities but should be considered for further investigation into this case. These children have been included in the maximum child fatality range.
Multiple Facebook posts, including one from Arafat Misbah Abu Abd, reported that the entire al-Khor family had been killed as a result of the attack. Arafat reported that there were 30 deaths. A Facebook post from Nader Yahya similarly claimed that the entire family had been killed, writing that there were 33 martyrs.
Arafat Misbah Abu Abdul posted an urgent appeal on Facebook “to the relevant authorities and the Civil Defense regarding the martyrs, my brothers and my brothers’ sons. Out of 30 martyrs, we have extracted 18 martyrs with our own hands, and there are still 12 martyrs under the rubble. For God’s sake, people, stand with us so we can extract the remaining martyrs.” Arafat lost three of his brothers and at least seven of his nieces and nephews, all under the age of 18.
Local sources did not provide details on the nature of the attack but Iyad Jaser Abu Anas wrote on Facebook that Saed Al-Khor, his wife and his five children, accompanied by their family members, died “after the enemy targeted their house.” Airwars has also matched all of the names of those killed with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023, which explicitly mentions that names on the list are “victims of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip”. Therefore, this incident has been graded as a likely Israeli airstrike.
The incident occured around dawn.
The victims were named as:
Family members (12)
Summary
Sources (12) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (15) [ collapse]
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