Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0268

Incident date

October 16, 2023

Location

مركز الدفاع المدني في حي التفاح, Civil defence center, Al Tuffah, Gaza, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.506667, 34.471389 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Nearby landmark level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On 16th October, 2023, at least six men working in the Palestinian civil defense were killed, and another seven employees were injured (two in a critical condition) as a result of an alleged Israeli airstrike on the civil defense center in Al Tufah neighborhood, east of Gaza City. All victims were reportedly providing humanitarian services at the time of attack.

The General Directorate of the Palestinian Civil Defense held a press conference at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza where he accused the Israeli military of directly targeting its headquarters and reported on the death and injuries of its servicemen. The attack killed the director of the center Muhammad Al-Ghaleed (36 years old), two firefighters – Alaa Abu Ghanima and Naji Al-Fayoumi (43 years old) – and three paramedics –  Muhammad Ali, Iyad Salem and Abdul Rahim Abu Al-Bayd (35 years old).

PBS News reported that seven paramedics were killed “as they prepared for a rescue mission” and quoted a video of one of the survivors who said “They targeted a center for ambulances. There are no weapons. There are no militants. There is nothing, nothing but civilians.”

A brother of the killed paramedic Iyad Salem wrote in a Facebook testimony that “he was martyred while doing his duty to save the lives of the injured in Gaza”. A friend of Naji Al-Fayoumi emphasized that the firefighter too was killed while performing his professional duty in civil defense.

One of the paramedics who lost his life in the incident, Muhammad Ali, was a pharmacist. His friend recalled that “he accompanied him for some time in studying pharmacy.”

Some local sources, including there Rafah Health Administration, were earlier reporting about five killed men and two of the injured being in critical condition.

Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.

Due to the scale and urgency of Airwars’ assessment process, all images have been automatically uploaded to each assessment with the graphic filter applied to protect users. We have also included all images identified from the sources, which may also include any imagery of combatants.

The incident occured around dawn.

The victims were named as:

Muhammad Al-Ghaleed محمد الغليظ
36 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 800722894
Alaa Abu Ghanima علاء ابو غنيمة
Adult male killed
Naji Al-Fayoumi ناجي الفيومي
43 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 905267316
Muhammad Musa Ali محمد موسى علي
Adult male killed
Iyad Salem اياد سالم
Adult male killed
Abdul Rahim Abu Bayd عبد الرحيم ابو بيض
35 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 802135574

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention a civil defence headquarters (مركز الدفاع المدني) in the Al Tuffah (التفاح) neighbourhood of Gaza city (غزة), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.506667, 34.471389. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Healthcare facility
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    6 – 7
  • (6 men6 healthcare_personnel)
  • Civilians reported injured
    7
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Impact
    Healthcare
    Impact on services or infrastructure relating to education, health or food supply. See methodology note for details.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (24) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (27) [ collapse]

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    Source: Ayman.harazeen.7
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    Source: Ayman.harazeen.7
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    Source: Palestinian Civil Defense
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    Source: Abdallah Abo Al Khair
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    Source: Remoo Salem
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    Source: Mahmoud Al Halabi Abo Islam
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    Source: Abo Adham
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    Source: Khalil Katkat
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    Source: Khalil Katkat
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    Source: Khalil Katkat
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    Source: Khalil Katkat
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    Source: Khalil Katkat
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    Source: Shareef Abo Al Oun
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    Source: Rafah Health Administration - General Administration of Primary Health Care
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    Source: Rafah Health Administration - General Administration of Primary Health Care
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    Source: Rafah Health Administration - General Administration of Primary Health Care
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    Source: Rafah Health Administration - General Administration of Primary Health Care
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rafah Health Administration - General Administration of Primary Health Care
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rafah Health Administration - General Administration of Primary Health Care
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Israeli Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Healthcare facility
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    6 – 7
  • (6 men6 healthcare_personnel)
  • Civilians reported injured
    7
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Impact
    Healthcare
    Impact on services or infrastructure relating to education, health or food supply. See methodology note for details.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (24) [ collapse]