Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

M21ISPT055

Incident date

May 14, 2021

Location

ِشارع النزهه, جباليا , Nuzha Street, Jabalia, North Gaza, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.538711, 34.495108 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

A six-year-old girl was killed by shrapnel while outside her house in Jabalia on May 14th, 2021, multiple sources reported. The majority of sources said the shrapnel resulted from nearby Israeli shelling, but Defence for Children International – Palestine and NGO Monitor reported that it came from a rocket-propelled grenade. Rocket-propelled grenades are commonly used by Palestinian militants.

The girl was named as Buthaina Mahmoud Issa Obaid. She was reported to have had a disability, which a source identified as cerebral palsy. The shrapnel struck her head and although she was rushed to hospital, she was unfortunately pronounced dead on arrival.

Defence for Children International – Palestine noted it had not yet been able to confirm the source of the rocket-propelled grenade and said it was continuing to investigate the incident. NGO Monitor, a group based in Jerusalem, alleged that “this incident is the result of Palestinian munitions: Either one of the RPGs fired by Palestinians towards Israel misfired, or an Israeli strike on a weapons cache led to secondary explosions.”

There were no other reports of harm as a result of this incident.

The incident occured at 21:15:00 local time.

The victims were named as:

Buthaina Mahmoud Issa Obaid بثينة محمود عيسى عبيد
6 years old female killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention Al Nuzha street (شارع النزهه), allegedly within the city of Jabalia (جباليا). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Jabalia are: 31.538711, 34.495108.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 child)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Israeli Military, Palestinian Militants

Sources (31) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • Buthaina Obaid died on May 14th, 2021 from a shrapnel wound to her head (image shared by her family with Defence for Children International - Palestine)
  • Image of Buthaina Mahmoud Issa Obaid (image via @GheedHissy)

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Palestinian Militants Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Palestinian Militants
  • Palestinian Militants position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 child)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Israeli Military, Palestinian Militants

Sources (31) [ collapse]