At approximately 2AM on Wednesday October 2nd 2024, at least 24 civilians were reportedly killed and dozens injured when the Israeli military conducted an airstrike on Muscat School, a shelter for displaced persons in the Al Tuffah neighbourhood in the east of Gaza City. A number of children were reportedly killed in the attack.

The strike was declared by Israeli forces, who claimed to be targeting “command and control complexes” belonging to Hamas within the school grounds.

Medhat al-Dada was reportedly killed in the attack alongside his two sons, Mohammed Medhat al-Dada and Bilal Medhat al-Dada, and his two daughters, Salsabil Medhat al-Dada and Maryam Medhat al-Dada. Maryam’s daughter Alaa al-Dada and son Riyad al-Dada were also both killed in the attack, and Maryam was reported to have been pregnant at the time of her death. Both Alaa and Riyad were children.

Ahmed Bilal al-Dada was also killed as a result of the strike on the school, with his two brothers Qusay Bilal al-Dada and Zaher Bilal al-Dada – based on their names, they are likely sons of Bilal Medhat al-Dada, as mentioned in a post by Mohanad Raeed that Bilal was killed with “Bilal, his father, his mother, his wife, all his children, his sisters with all their children, and all his brothers.” Based on this information, Bilal’s wife whose name was not reported was also killed.

As a result of this Israeli attack the al-Dada family was reportedly “erased from the civil registry,” with no remaining family members alive. This was reported by Mohanad Raeed via Facebook, who added that Jamila al-Dada, the wife of Medhat, was also killed in the attack, as well as Yasmine Zaher al-Dada. This brings the total number of people killed from the al-Dada family to 13.

Extended relatives and friends posted to social media in remembrance, with Mohanad Raeed and Ziad al-Dada posting pictures of Bilal (misidentified as Medhat by Ziad al-Dada), and user Mohanned Mohanned asking that “God have mercy” on the family.

Along with the al-Dada family, members of the al-Aal, al-Safadi, al-Layl and Abu Ras families were also reported to have been killed.

Mahdi Abdel al-Aal was a five month old boy, born during the conflict, reportedly killed in the airstrike with his grandmother Elham Abed al-Aal. Mahdi appears to be the youngest named victim of this airstrike. Facebook user Eman Mohammed, in announcing the deaths, shared a photograph reportedly of a deceased Mahdi and his grandmother, who are both wrapped in body bags.

Diaa Abdel Hay Mohammed al-Safadi was reportedly killed in the attack, along with Umm Adnan Abu al-Layl and Ahlam Abu al-Layl. A child from the same family, Baham Mohammed Abu al-Layl, also reportedly was killed. According to a Facebook post from an account for “Al Tuffah neighborhood – Gaza City,” Baham was only five years old at the time of his death.

Facebook user Mr. Sami al-Safadi referred to Diaa al-Safadi as a “Major”. This reference has led Airwars to consider al-Safadi as having contested civilian/combatant status; the reference might be indicative of membership of a militant group, however it may also be used as a sign of deference or respect to a senior individual. Should more information come to light, Airwars will update al-Safadi’s status.

Ahmed Abu Ras was another named victim of the airstrike, bringing the total of named victims to 17. However, the death toll was reportedly higher, with a news report from al-Resalah News reporting that the Civil Defense said that 25 bodies were recovered in the aftermath of the attack.

Footage shared by Al Resala on Facebook captured a Civil Defense worker pulling a baby from the rubble and proceeding to perform CPR on them on the street. The baby didn’t appear to be more than one year old. It is unclear if they survived the incident.

Multiple sources reported that more than 25 people were killed in the attack, with one post to Facebook from “Voice of Palestine Radio” reporting that more than 30 people had died as a result of the Israeli bombing. The majority of sources however, reported 25 people dead, with Atheer News reporting that the Civil Defense announced 25 deaths and dozens of injuries, mainly women and children. Various photos were shared across Facebook of a number of bodies wrapped in white cloth.

Reports stated that dozens of people were wounded in the attack, with many being critically injured. According to a post to Twitter/X from @Sa7atPIBreaking, Muscat School was housing hundreds of displaced people at the time of the strike.

Video footage shared to Facebook by Ahmed Hamed al Kahlout showed the scene inside the school building following the Israeli strike. Heavy blocks of cement rubble littered the floor in multiple rooms along with mangled furniture, and multiple rooms were shown where the ceiling and walls had either partially or fully collapsed.

Writing on Twitter/X, the Israeli Defense Forces acknowledged their involvement in the strike: “Aircraft of the Air Force attacked a short time ago, in a targeted manner and under the intelligence guidance of the Israeli Defense Forces and the Southern Command, terrorists who were operating in the command and control complexes of the terrorist organisation Hamas, which were established in areas that were previously used as the “Muscat” and “Rimal” schools in the north of the Gaza Strip”. At the time of writing, public information in support of the claim of a Hamas presence at the Muscat School was not available.