Shortly before 2:34 a.m. on Sunday, 6th October 2024, the Israeli military allegedly carried out an airstrike on the Shuhada al-Aqsa Mosque, opposite the Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least 16 identified civilians and reportedly up to 25,  and injuring up to 94 others, including internally displaced people who were reportedly sheltering in the mosque at the time of the strike. The mosque was completely destroyed as a result of the strike.

The Palestinian Press Agency (SAFA) was the first to report the incident at 2:34 AM, citing “martyrs and injuries.” The reported death toll from the strike rose quickly in its aftermath, with the Palestinian Press Agency (SAFA) placing it at 16 at 3:18 AM, whilst the news page Falasteen24 Online placed the toll as high as 25. According to British news organisation The Guardian, local authorities placed the toll at 24.

The number of reported injuries from the strike ranged from “several”, as reported by the Palestinian Press Agency (SAFA), to as high as 94, as claimed by Shaheed al-Farra, writing on Twitter/ X.

Airwars researchers identified sixteen adult men named to have been killed in the strike by different sources – including local media in Gaza,  friends, relatives, and a website called “Genocide in Gaza”. Genocide in Gaza also provided the ages of most of the identified victims.

54-year-old Ahmed Fakhri Ahmed al-Nafar was killed alongside his 57-year-old brother Jihad Fakhri Ahmed al-Nafar.

Also killed were 49-year-old Ayman Ahmed Hosni al-Jamal, also known as Abu Ahmed, 23-year-old Al-Hassan Fadl Ibrahim al-Sinwar, and 58-year-old Dr. Abdel Salam Muhammad Saeed Haraz, who was also known as Abu Mohammad.

35-year-old Murad Mustafa Abu Ghoula was also killed, as were 19-year-old Wassim Hassan Khamis Khadra, 55-year-old Jamal Hafez Shaaban Badawi, also known as Abu Khaled, 26-year-old Muhammad Raed Muhammad Abd Rabbuh, and Imad Jamal Abdel Salam al-Hajj Ali, who was 19 years old.

54-year-old Khalil Ibrahim al-Najjar, also known as Abu Ibrahim, 26-year-old Alaa Ayman Saeed Hamouda, 34-year-old Jihad Zuhair al-Razayneh, and 42-year-old Mohammed Hassan Yousef Qaz’at were also killed.

29-year-old Muhammad Shafiq Mithqal Abu Diya and 30-year-old Muhammad Raed al-Attar were also identified as having been killed.

The names of the victims, with the exception of Muhammad Shafiq Mithqal Abu Diya and Muhammad Raed Al-Attar, have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Since October 26, 2023, the MoH has released eight 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 seventh and eighth “Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza”, which were released on October 23, 2024, and March 24, 2025, respectively.

The ages of the two men whose names could not be matched with MoH lists were found by cross-checking names against lists of fatalities shared online by Genocide in Gaza, which has a list of “martyrs” of Israeli forces.

A graphic account of the incident, written on Facebook by Mustafa Zaghoul, indicated that some women and children may also have been among those killed and injured in the strike. Mustafa Zaghoul wrote,

“They bombed Al-Aqsa Martyrs Mosque, a mosque belonging to the hospital. There were already displaced people sleeping in it, and there were some injured people and their families. People were on top of each other, corpses and remains. Some of the injured were trying to get them out from under the piles of corpses before they suffocated to death. They were pulling them out from under their children or sisters. The scene was horrible. Blood mixed with remains, with dirt, with water, with Qurans on the ground, in the pitch darkness. God is sufficient for us, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.”

Furthermore, a photograph posted on Facebook by Abu Hassan Adnan T’amri showed at least 16 bodies of people killed in the strike wrapped in white shrouds. At least three of the bodies, possibly four, appeared to be children.

A large number of sources, including Al-Jazeera, concurred that the mosque was housing displaced people at the time of the strike. Al-Jazeera reported that the mosque had been housing displaced people for almost a year prior to the strike.

According to Iranian network Al-Alam, among other sources, the strike occurred without prior warning.

Footage shared by Mahmoud Abu Ziad on Facebook showed the initial aftermath of the strike.

From within the hospital compound, smoke could be seen rising from the mosque. A group of men ran into the destroyed mosque to search for survivors. A man, either severely wounded or dead, could be seen being carried away from the scene.

Meanwhile, a further video posted on Facebook by Mokhtar Jarray showed men rushing into the destroyed mosque in the aftermath of the strike, searching for killed and injured people in the rubble in darkness, using their phone torches. Two men with severe injuries could be seen trying to leave. According to Mokhtar Jarray, numerous killed and injured people were trapped beneath the rubble of the mosque.

Al-Jazeera reported that people were still searching the rubble for missing people the day after the strike.

A graphic image posted by Sam Nouri on Facebook showed the dead body of a man surrounded by rubble in the aftermath of the airstrike.

Images posted on Twitter/X by Mohammad Zead (mohammdzead2024) showed at least five bodies wrapped in blankets laid out in the hospital courtyard.

A further image posted on Twitter/X by SupportProphetM showed at least six bodies wrapped in blankets laid out on the floor inside the hospital.

A report posted on Youtube by Al-Jazeera Mubasher two days after the strike revealed how the mosque had been completely destroyed, with collapsed walls and upper floors. Pieces of people’s belongings could be seen among the ruins. Surrounding buildings were also damaged.

The Al-Jazeera correspondent said the following in the video:

“We are here in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, where we document for you the magnitude of the massacre — in every sense of the word. What you’re seeing, dear viewers, is widespread destruction. These are the remains of the displaced people who were taking shelter in this area: their clothes, their mattresses, their personal belongings — everything was here, and everything was obliterated.

You are looking now at the mosque — the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Mosque — and these are the very locations where Israeli occupation forces launched their missiles, completely destroying the mosque. {…} The impact was so intense that the shrapnel and debris from the mosque scattered far beyond, reaching the surrounding farmlands. Trees were split in half by the sheer force of the explosion.

Nearby was a camp for displaced persons — some of whom were injured and transported to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Meanwhile, citizens here are doing their best to salvage what little remains under the rubble.”

After that, the correspondent spoke to one of the eyewitnesses to this massacre, who said the following:

“What happened here is no secret. Displaced people, seeking safety, slept in this mosque — the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Mosque — because their relatives were being treated in the nearby hospital. They spent the last third of the night in a house of Allah Almighty, only to be killed without any crime, crushed under the rubble of what should have been their sanctuary. The men were killed, the children slain, and even the Holy Qur’an was torn to shreds. But this is no surprise — for the Qur’an already described them: ‘They spread corruption on Earth.’ These divine words capture exactly what we see before us — even in the torn pages of the sacred book.”

In the final part of the interview, the mosque’s muezzin said that he has been calling the Adhan (call to prayer) in this mosque for twenty years. He explained that the displaced people were not originally from this area — they came from Gaza City and have been here for over a year as displaced persons. They had no tent, no shelter, and nowhere else to go. As a result of the bombing, twenty-one people were killed and more than nineteen others were injured.

A video posted by Al-Jazeera Palestine showed footage of the funerals of some of those killed in the strike. Mourners surrounded several shrouded bodies lying on the ground as people bade farewell, and further shrouded bodies were carried through the streets by crowds of mourners in a funeral procession.

Palestine TV also shared further footage of the funeral procession on Facebook.

Numerous friends and relatives mourned those killed in posts on social media.

Rafeeq Abu Diya announced the death of his nephew, Muhammad Shafiq Mithqal Abu Diya, writing on Facebook, “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful (And give good tidings to the patient, who, when disaster strikes them, say, “Indeed we belong to God, and indeed to Him we will return’) God Almighty has spoken the truth. With more patience, sadness and pain, I mourn my nephew, the martyr / Muhammad Shafiq Abu Diya, who was martyred in the massacre of the Shuhada al-Aqsa Mosque in Deir al-Balah.”  He added an image of 29-year-old Muhammad, a man with dark hair and a thick dark beard wearing a sports suit, holding a small child in his arms. Muhammad’s death was also mourned by his cousin Rami Maher on Facebook.

Meanwhile, Ghadeer Ahmad, also writing on Facebook, mourned the loss of Ahmed Fakhri Ahmed al-Nafar and Jihad Fakhri Ahmed al-Nafar. He announced, “The martyrdom of my dear father and uncle in an Israeli raid on the Shuhada al-Aqsa Mosque at three o’clock in the morning. May God have mercy on them and grant them the highest paradise. O Lord, have mercy on the martyr ‘Ahmed Fakhri Ahmed al-Nafar’, the martyr ‘Jihad Fakhri Ahmed al-Nafar’.” They included photographs of the two men, which showed them to have short, dark hair and moustaches, and wearing a black polo shirt and a white shirt, respectively.

The community Facebook page of the “European Area and East Khan Yunis” remembered a young Al-Hassan Fadl Ibrahim al-Sinwar, writing, “The martyrdom of our neighbor, the martyr, God willing, *Al-Hassan Fadl Ibrahim Al-Sinwar*, in the Shuhada al-Aqsa Mosque massacre. To God we belong and to Him we shall return. We ask God Almighty to have mercy on him, accept him, and grant him a place in His spacious gardens, and to inspire his family with patience and solace.” He was shown in an accompanying photograph to have dark curly hair and a short beard, wearing a black t-shirt.

Ahmad Shaalan mourned Imad Jamal Abdel Salam al-Hajj Ali, particularly noting his commitment to religion. He wrote on Facebook, “A year has passed, and the raging war is still claiming our souls. To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return. “A man whose heart is attached to the mosques,” left our transient world and sought refuge in the mosque to sleep in. Today, he goes to be with his Lord as a martyr following the targeting of the Shuhada al-Aqsa Mosque. The beloved, memorizer, skilled narrator, and man of noble morals/ Imad Ali. O God, we consider him a martyr and we do not vouch for anyone before You. O God, we bear witness that he was among the righteous.”

According to the Facebook page Jabalia Martyrs, Imad Jamal Abdel Salam al-Hajj Ali was known as “the memorizer of the Book of God” (meaning he learned the Quran by heart), and had achieved first place in the Gaza Strip Sharia branch in 2022, scoring 99.7%. An accompanying picture showed him smiling with short brown hair and a short beard, wearing a white shirt and a sash embroidered with calligraphy around his neck.

The Haraz Attalah family, writing on their family Facebook page, remembered Dr. Abdel Salam Muhammad Saeed Haraz, announcing that, “The martyr Dr. Abdel Salam Muhammad Saeed Haraz ‘Abu Muhammad’ has joined the caravan of martyrs of the family. We ask God to have mercy on the martyr, heal the wounded, and compensate them with good for the destruction of their homes. To God we belong and to Him we shall return.” Dr. Haraz was shown in a photograph to have close-cropped hair and a greying beard, wearing a dark coat over a blue and white chequered shirt.

On Facebook, Ali Herz posted a video showing the funeral proceedings for one of the martyrs, writing that this was “uncle” Abu Muhammad Abdul Salam Haraz, who had been killed along with dozens of others.

Mohammad Tabash mourned his friend Murad Mustafa Abu Ghoula, writing, “Dear friend … Murad Abu Ghoula … martyred and joined his wife and son. May God have mercy on you, hero. In targeting the Shuhada al-Aqsa Mosque. God is sufficient for us, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.” Mohammad added an image of Murad, a young man with a short trimmed beard dressed in a black jacket, who was captured together with his son.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Gouda described how Murad Abu Ghoula’s family had previously been killed in the war: “Murad Abu Ghoula was martyred a few months after the martyrdom of his only child, Uday, and his wife. The family was erased from the civil registry as if it had never existed. May your soul rest in peace, dear brother Murad.”

Mohammad al-Najjar mourned the loss of his “beloved uncle” Khalil Ibrahim al-Najjar, asking, “God Almighty to have mercy on him, forgive him, and grant him a place in His spacious gardens, O Lord of the worlds.” An accompanying photograph showed Khalil Ibrahim al-Najjar sitting in some grass, wearing jeans and a blue shirt, with short dark hair and a moustache.

Chef Asmar, meanwhile, also writing on Facebook, described Khalil Ibrahim al-Najjar as “the one who brought a smile and joy to the heart of everyone who saw him.” He added: “He lived a good, poor life and met Allah patiently, seeking reward from Allah, inside the mosque after the bombing of the Shuhada Al-Aqsa Mosque. O Allah, accept him, have mercy on him, forgive him, and gather him with the poor, the martyrs and the righteous.”

Umm Hassan, with others, mourned her brother-in-law Ayman Ahmed Hosni Al-Jamal, asking “God Almighty to have mercy on him and to grant him the highest level of Paradise, and to inspire his family, wife, and children with patience and solace, and to comfort their hearts.” An accompanying photograph showed him clean-shaven, wearing a black jacket and a dark cap.

Musa Bahar also mourned Ayman Ahmed Hosni Al-Jamal, writing, “Peace be upon you, the honest and trustworthy one, peace be upon you, our beloved, my friend Ayman al-Jamal ‘Abu Ahmed’ Your separation is not easy, your departure is unbelievable, all the consolation in the whole world, will not console the bereaved for what he lost, will not console a heart that is attached to someone, God loved you so we loved you, God raised your status in the heavens so he raised it on earth and our hearts as well, we do not know whether to cry over your separation or laugh and count our reward from God! You are fortunate with God, Hajj ‘Abu Ahmed’.”

Abu Mahmoud Abu Khadra bade farewell to Wassim Hassan Khamis Khadra, describing his grief and writing, “By God, our heart can no longer bear it. O God, do not burden us with what we cannot bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us.”

Abu Rabie Fouad al-Jamal described Muhammad Raed Muhammad Abd Rabbuh as “a good neighbour”. A photograph showed him with dark hair in a faded style and a strong beard, wearing a white top.

Belal J Badawi mourned the loss of his father, writing on Facebook, “My father: Jamal Hafez Shaaban Badawi ‘Abu Khaled’ joins the planet of martyrs, how pure your precious blood was when you ascended as a martyr in the sight of Allah the Almighty! But my sadness for you speaks volumes of my pain over your loss, my father. ” He was shown in a photograph wearing glasses, a dark coat, and a purple necktie, sitting at a wooden desk.

Mohammad al-Razayneh announced the death of his brother, Jihad Zuhair al-Razayneh, describing him as “the love of my heart, and my support”. He posted a photograph of himself in a stripy jumper holding a child (who wore yellow). The family relative, Abdulla Zueiter, also mourned the death of Jihad.

On Twitter/ X, Mohammad (Mohamme1d13) reported that the mother of Mohammed Hassan Yousef Qaz’at, one of the strike’s victims, told reporters, “I have one prayer: God, end this war.”

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), writing on Telegram, confirmed that the IAF had carried out the strike on the Al-Aqsa hospital located near the mosque, claiming to have targeted Hamas militants operating in the area and to have taken steps to mitigate civilian harm. But the incident is related to the strike on the mosque opposite it. Although some sources claimed that the mosque was a part of the hospital, the incident has not been marked as declared, but this will be updated should additional information come to light.