At approximately 4:45am on Thursday, November 16, 2023, 16 civilians, including a child, a woman, and two elderly men, were killed and at least seven civilians were injured during an alleged Israeli airstrike which hit the Al-Hassan Mosque in the Al-Sanafour section in the Al-Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza City.

According to multiple sources the incident occurred in the early morning hours while worshippers were performing the dawn prayer (Fajr).

A photo shared by the Facebook group “Voice of the Two Banks” shows Al-Hassan Mosque that has been completely destroyed, with its entire front side blown open. The mosque’s tower appears to be still standing. In the foreground, two children are seen looking at the rubble. Euro-Med Monitor spoke with a relative of one of the victims who said “we found no trace of anyone who had been inside at the time. They were all torn to pieces, and there was no sign of anyone.”

Based on numerous posts by private social media users, including family and friends of the deceased, as well as reports from local and international media, researchers were able to identify the names of 11 people killed in this incident, along with the family name of one other.

Accordingly, three members of the Karim family were reportedly killed during the incident, identified as Maher Sadiq Mustafa Karim (Abu Saeb), Mohammed Saeed Karim (Abu Saeed) and Maher’s son in law, Raed Awad Abu Madkour (Abu Hassan, 44). Further, two members of the Al-Abbasi family were reportedly killed, identified as Dr. Ahmed Yousef Eid al-Abbasi (34) and his brother Dr. Mustafa Yousef Eid al-Abbasi (28). Another deceased was identified as Mazen Jamil Matar al-Ghafri (Abu Muhammad, 57).

The well-known NGO Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med Monitor) published a detailed report with the title “Al-Hasan Mosque Massacre: Euro-Med Monitor investigation reveals details of Israeli army killing 15+ Palestinians during dawn prayer in Gaza”. According to the Euro-Med Monitor report three members of the Al-Dakhakhni family were reportedly killed in their home next to the mosque, identified as Jamal Mohammed Salem al-Dakhakhni (56), his daughter-in-law Jumana al-Dakhakhni and his 16-month-old granddaughter Mira Wafi Zakri al-Suweirki. Further deaths that were identified include Omar Rizq Ali Antiz (64) and Abdul Rahman Saeed al-Batsh (71). According to the report the killed included a member of the Sakani family. However, the monitoring team was unable to identify their identity.

Numerous relatives and acquaintances expressed their grief on Facebook following the deaths of their brothers, sisters, and cousins. Among them were members and friends of the Karim family from Palestine and Yemen, who published several messages of condolence. Sharefa M Kraem shared the devastating story of the how he experienced the moment that led to his father Abu Saeb’s death: “I awoke to his voice calling the adhan (call to prayer), unaware that it would be the last sound I would hear from that living heartbeat within me. Al-Hassan Mosque was his other home, where he spent more time than his own. He always longed for martyrdom. Amidst the dozens of fire belts unleashed upon us by the occupation, he would go out to the mosque every night to pray the night prayer. (Please, Dad, don’t go out. Pray at home. The bombing is close, and the streets are empty. How can you go out? How?!) ‘Who will call the adhan? No, no, I want to leave. I’m awake anyway. Let me read a few chapters and pray a few rak’ahs.’ Dozens of consecutive bursts of fire that didn’t stop. My father was in the mosque. The sound of a missile almost tore my ears apart. The sound of rubble and dust. The flying stones. A moment of silence. Glances between me, my mother, and my sister—and all of us at once: (That’s the mosque. My father is in the mosque.) In front of the house, a few meters away. When they told us and we were sure that the mosque was their target, I closed my eyes, my heart repeating, ‘My father is okay. Oh God, my father is only injured, nothing else.’ I didn’t find anyone around me. I left the house, heading toward the mosque, and then my mother held my hands and told me, ‘Your father has been martyred, my son.’ I don’t know, I can’t hear, I can’t see. I lost all my senses from the shock of the words. I remembered that big bird that wanted to enter our house after the dawn prayer. It stood in front of the door, fluttering, going up, then almost coming back down. Something told me that it was my father’s spirit that came to bid us farewell. I will never forget the scene: ambulances, rubble, body parts, and people all in a panic, trying to pull him from under the mosque’s debris. (Did you find your father, Mama? Did you see him?! No, Mama, my father is gone, we couldn’t find a trace of him.) Before my eyes, something twisted, and people were looking at it, their faces filled with terror and tears. (This is Abu Saeb’s leg. This is what we found.)”

Wael Karim and Dr. Saad Karim shared two photographs of Abu Saeb and Abu Saeed. One image shows a man indoors wearing traditional ceremonial attire—a white cap and a brown robe with gold trim—posed formally with his hands together in what appears to be a community or cultural setting. The second photograph depicts a man standing beneath a wooden pergola, the slatted beams casting patterned shadows, as he smiles at the camera. Badr Karim, Omar Dabbash, Eng Ahmed Madkour, Alaa Mathkour and Sandie Sam Yorkshire posted two nearly identical frontal portraits of Abu Hassan, a man with black hair and a stubble beard, smiling warmly while wearing, respectively, a blue-and-white shirt and a white shirt.

Alaa Mathkour further posted about his gratitude towards his friend Mahmoud Faraj, who completed Umrah on behalf on his brother Abu Hassan. The video appears to show Mahmoud in Mecca performing a prayer for Abu Hassan.

Friends and relatives of the Al-Abbasi brothers likewise published messages of mourning. According to these posts, Ahmed worked as a pharmacist and Mustafa as an anesthesiologist. Haitham Alnajjar stated: “You departed to join your friend and beloved, Eng. Osama al-Zubda, and your uncle, Dr. Jamal… Oh God, how I longed for it! Oh God, how happy I was yesterday when we spoke in our last call, and you told me that you had managed to secure a number of aid packages for the displaced people in the schools… The loss is immense, by God, and may God grant us patience. Indeed, we belong to God, and to Him we shall return. There is no power nor strength except with God, the Most High, the Almighty.”

One post included an image of two men with black hair, wearing sunglasses, beige vests, and black trousers, seated on a bench; one man is dressed in a blue-and-white striped shirt, the other in a white shirt. The individual positioned behind is identified as Ahmed. Khalid Alabbasi posted a photograph in memory of his brother or cousin Ahmed, who has black hair, a moustache, and glasses. He is shown wearing a beige vest featuring a South African flag and an unreadable inscription, over a grey sweater and a black-and-white checkered shirt.

Mohammed A. Almanassra shared a picture of his friend Mustafa. In the photo, Mustafa stands on a wet street, dressed in a dark green shirt and smiling softly toward the camera. Another image circulated on Facebook consists of two photographs placed side by side. One shows Mustafa wearing glasses, jeans, a blue bomber jacket with white stripes on the sleeves and collar, and a blue checkered shirt. The other shows Ahmed, also wearing glasses and jeans, dressed in a blue and white striped shirt and a blue jacket. In both photographs, they are smiling calmly.

Amr Abokaram commemorated his uncle Abu Muhammad with a photograph showing him in a red checkered shirt, seated casually at a table, leaning on his hand and smiling.

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 ten 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 third through eighth ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on March 24, 2025. Additional ages of victims have been found by cross-checking names against lists of fatalities shared online by Shireen Monitor, an organisation which has a list of “Martyrs of Palestine” from 2023 onward.

According to some sources, the incident also resulted in injuries. However, local sources did not mention the number of those affected nor the identities of the injuries. Euro-Med Monitor found in the above-mentioned report that at least seven civilians were injured.

Due to the gravity of the incident, it was broadly covered by local news outlets, including the Palestinian Press Agency SAFA and the Hamas affiliated Shehab Agency, and local journalists, including Hani Alshaer, Raed Hammad, and Mahmoud Bakr al-Louh. A Facebook post was also shared by a group called Palestinian Resistance Factions (PRF), which included the Hamas logo in the image, indicating that the group is affiliated with Hamas. The Palestinian Fatah Movement published a statement on their Facebook page Fatah Movement’s Media and Culture Commission.

While various sources referred to the incident as a bombardment, some further attributed the attack specifically to bombardments carried out by warplanes.

Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the attack to the Israeli military. Euro-Med Monitor specified that the strike occurred without prior warning and that “no evidence was found of any military targets, whether civilian or armed personnel, inside the mosque or in the surrounding area at the time of the attack.”