Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0002

Incident date

October 7, 2023

Location

خزاعة, Khuza’a, Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.522567, 34.462869 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (via Airwars) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On October 7, 2023, seven members of the Al Najjar family, including two children and three women, were killed and four others were wounded in their three-storey house in Khuza’a, east of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, by an alleged Israeli airstrike.

The airstrike took the life of Hajj Hamdan Al Najjar “Abu Zaki”, a director of the Tribal (Clans) Office at the Ministry of Interior, his wife Zahira Al Najjar “Um Zaki”, their son Mohammed Hamdan Al-Najjar and their daughter Ehtiram Al Najjar. Mohammad Al Najjar was remembered as a well-behaved high school student of 2006 in a Facebook post by Bumat El-Ghad Foundation.

Other members of the Al Najjar family, namely, the wife of their son Salah, Afnan Al Najjar, her son Sanad Salah Al Najjar and her daughter Ayah Salah Al Najjar, are also among the victims of the tragic incident.

On Facebook, the Al-Najjar family page listed the members of the family who had been killed, including Ayah Salah Hamdan Al-Najjar, the young granddaughter of Hajj Hamdan Al-Najjar. The same Facebook page also provided the names of four people who were reportedly wounded as a result of the airstrike: Zakaria Hamdan Al-Najjar, Mrs.Yasmine Tariq Ibrahim Al-Najjar, Yahya Ahmed Ghazi Al-Najjar (a child) and Saif Sabry Muhammad Al-Najjar (a child).

Two sources, namely Shebab Agency and Oud News Agency published information on social media on the strike on October 7, in the evening. Based on the time of publication of these sources, Airwars concluded that the attack might have been conducted between 7pm and 8.30pm local time.
Other sources, such as Palsawa news, reported on the incident the morning of October 8th, at around 9 am. However, it seems that sources referred to when rescue efforts were taking place, and to the moment where victims were pulled from the rubble. It was initially reported by Palsawa news that three killed and three injured people who had been brought to the European Hospital. Later on, while Khuza’a Municipality crews were removing the rubble of the destroyed house, the bodies of Afnan Al Najjar and Ehtiram Al Najjar were recovered from the rubble.

A son of Hajj Hamdan Al Najjar, Zakaria H.Al Najjar, mentioned in his heartfelt Facebook testimony Sanad Salah Al Najjar and Ayah Salah Al Najjar among the victims, thus confirming that the strike had killed seven members of the Al Najjar family.

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

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

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 between 7:00 pm and 8:30 pm local time.

The victims were named as:

Family members (11)

Hajj Hamdan Al-Najjar “Abu Zaki” الحج حمدان النجار ابو زكي
Adult male killed
Mrs. Zahira Al-Najjar, “Umm Zaki” السيدة زهرة النجار أم زكي
Adult female killed
Mohamed Hamdan Al-Najjar محمد حمدان النجار
17 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 424376333
Aya Salah Hamdan Al-Najjar ايه صباح النجار
4 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 441081957
Ehtiram Al Najjar احترام النجار
34 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 802479592
Afnan Al Najjar أفنان النجار
25 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 404158313
Sanad Salah Al Najjar سند صلاح النجار
3 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 442962304
Zakaria Hamdan Al-Najjar زكريا حمدان النجار
injured
Yahya Ahmed Ghazi Al-Najjar يحيى احمد غازي النجار
Child injured
Mrs. Yasmine Tariq Ibrahim Al-Najjar السيدة ياسمين طارق ابراهيم النجار
female injured
Saif Sabry Muhammad Al-Najjar سيف صبري محمد النجار
Child injured

Geolocation notes (2) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention the town of Khuza’a (خزاعة). Analysing audio-visual material from sources, we have narrowed the location down to the following exact coordinates: 31.522567, 34.462869.

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Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 7
  • (2 children3 women1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    4
  • 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.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (36) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (31) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Ismaeel Omar facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Khuzaa school facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Khuzaa school facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al-Sharqiya facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al-Sharqiya facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al-Sharqiya facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al-Sharqiya facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Najjar Family facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Najjar Family facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Hamza Abu Hany facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Hamza Abu Hany facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: PNN facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: PNN facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: PNN facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: PNN facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Rawan Almashhrawi
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Khuza'a Municipality
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Khuza'a Municipality
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Khuza'a Municipality
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al Sharqiya
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al Sharqiya
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al Sharqiya
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Sada Al Sharqiya
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Pnn network
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Pnn network
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Pnn network
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Asem2030
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Esmaeel omar
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: The Journalist Ahmad Qudeh
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mohammad Amin Abo Farhana
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Najjar Forum

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
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 7
  • (2 children3 women1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    4
  • 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.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (36) [ collapse]