Airwars assessment
On Friday, June 21, 2024, at least six civilians were reportedly killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip. The attack struck the Gaza Municipality garage near Al Yarmouk Stadium and occurred at approximately 10:40 am.
Zaher Hamdi Al-Haddad (41 years old), Sherif Omar Al-Gendy (33 years old), Ibrahim Zuhair Abu Khater (32 years old), Ahmed Ismail Al-Helou (24 years old), and Anwar Sobhi Al-Jundi (54 years old) were municipality employees classified as relief workers. Ibrahim Samir Badawi (26 years old) was also among those killed in the strike.
A video taken by an Al Jazeera correspondent, and later shared on both Al Jazeera and the Municipality of Gaza Facebook accounts, provided evidence of the damage caused by a strike on the municipality garage. All the victims were reported to be municipal employees working on operating the water wells. The Gaza Municipality garage is located on Al Wahda Street, in the center of Gaza City, near Al Yarmouk Stadium. The video, taken soon after the strike while efforts to recover the victims were underway, shows damage to a building structure, reportedly a private office for engineers and workers from the municipality’s service sector. A witness, an unidentified municipality worker in the video, described how the strike occurred precisely where employees were providing the diesel needed to operate the water wells. The video shows extensive damage and chaotic rescue efforts. Among the deceased is 54-year-old engineer Anwar Al-Jundi, Director General of Water and Environment in the municipality and a member of the Emergency Committee.
A press release issued by the Gaza Municipality on June 21st attributed the strike to the Israeli military and highlighted the dedication of the deceased municipal employees who, despite extremely difficult conditions and high risks, continued their essential work to provide water services. The statement called for immediate investigation and actions from the United Nations and other organisations, citing the alleged targeting of municipality employees as endangering civilian lives due to the potential collapse of essential services such as water, sewage, and waste collection.
In this press release, the name of Ibrahim Samir Badawi is notably absent. However, according to @khbrpressps, which provided updates on the incident afterwards, two additional fatalities were reported and attributed to this strike: Ibrahim Samir Badawi, whose death was confirmed on the Facebook pages of his relatives (his brother Musab Badawi and his uncle Yahya Masoud), and another unidentified victim, therefore bringing the total potential number of those killed to seven – according to these sources.
Several Facebook posts from the relatives and close ones of the deceased highlighted how the victims were professionals who served the population despite facing extreme danger. They were remembered through social media posts and pictures depicting them performing their duties. These posts portrayed them as strong and dedicated men who attended their jobs to ensure water supply for the community.
As of the present date, there have been no further updates regarding the unidentified victim.
The strike status has been graded as “likely” by Airwars due to several sources mentioning Israel as being responsible for the strike, with the Civilian Harm Status as “fair” due to multiple different sources mentioning the civilian harm.
Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Since October 26, 2023 the MoH has released six lists, along with an additional list of medical professionals, which was released on September 15, 2024. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, names are matched to the fifth ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on June 30, 2024.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (30) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (17) [ collapse]
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: MasrFeed -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Motasem Algendy -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Hassouna Alskafi -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Hassouna Alskafi -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Hassouna Alskafi -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Hassouna Alskafi -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Hassouna Alskafi -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Municipality of Gaza -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Municipality of Gaza -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Musab Badawi -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Yahya Masoud -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Yahya Masoud -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Ahmed Jendy -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Ahmed Jendy -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Gehad Abu Yazan -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.