Shortly after midday on Tuesday, 7th November 2023, at least six family members, including five women, were killed and a number of family members were injured when an alleged Israeli airstrike hit the al-Hamaida family home in al-Shaboura camp in the center of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. The family has reportedly already been displaced. The exact number of victims was not immediately known, as searches were still underway for missing people beneath the rubble of the house.

Several social media users and news outlets, including Safa.ps and Palestine TV, reported on the incident that killed the family shortly after midday, reporting initially five victims and injuries as a result of the strike. A number of victims were transferred to the hospital to receive treatment, and one was reportedly pronounced dead on arrival at Al-Najjar hospital.

Later, journalist Adel Zaarab posted the names of the six victims on Facebook, while friends and family mourned their loved ones in heartfelt social media posts.  The victims were identified as 76-year-old Khadija Husssein (Abdullah) Labad and her two daughters, 48-year-old Nadia Muhammad (Ismail)  Labad and 45-year-old Najwa Muhammad (Ismail) Labad, her 45-year-old son Ahmed Muhammad (Ismail) Labad, as well as his 37-year-old wife Nesreen Imad (Fayez) Labad (Al-Madhoun) and their 44-year-old sister-in-law Maha Fouad (Mohammed) Labad (Al-Madhoun).

Where possible, the names of the victims have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Since October 26, 2023, the MoH has released a number of lists, along with an additional list of medical professionals, which was released on September 17, 2024. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, names are matched to the second “Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza”, which was released on January 7, 2024. Names within parentheses were found from the Ministry of Health list rather than local sources.

The official page of the Madhoun family, reported that the death of Maha and Nesreen took the total number of killed family members from the Al-Madhoun family to eight. The comment noted that they died “along with their husbands and children”  on Tuesday, 7th November 2023. However, no other sources, including Shireen Monitor and Genocide in Gaza,  mentioned the husband of Maha and the children of Maha and Nesreen among the victims.

Iman Labad, who lost her mother and three siblings, Nadia, Najwa and Ahmed, in the attack, wrote an emotional tribute on Facebook: “Oh God, reward us for our affliction. To God we belong and to Him we shall return.”

A photo shared on Facebook by family member Hazem Al-Madoun depicted the burial site of the family members who were buried alongside one another in the sand. The comment read “accept them and grant them a good resting place”.  Hazem mourned the death of his aunt, Maha Labad, and other relatives who were killed.

A video shared on Facebook by Awdah.TV depicted ambulances operating in a busy street behind a crowded alley.  Groups of people are rushing through the alley sandwiched between single-storey houses. In the distance, a crowd gathers around what appears to be the rubble of a collapsed house. Citizens and search and rescue teams lifted large pieces of rubble searching for people beneath. In another shot, a young girl with a distressed look sits in the back of an ambulance, beside her, an older man struggles to get up, lying on the bed beside her. The comment read “#Video from the site of the [attack on] the Al-Hamaida family home in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip”.

Adly Abu Taha shared on Facebook an image of the dead body covered with a checkered blanket, writing, “A martyr arrives at al-Najjar Hospital from the recent bombing of Rafah of the al-Hamaida family home.”

Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the incident to the Israeli forces.