Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0049

Incident date

October 9, 2023

Location

المواسي, Al Mawasi, Rafah, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.360821, 34.271507 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On October 9th 2023 the home of the Al-Lahham family was allegedly hit by Israeli airstrikes, reportedly killing up to 20 civilians, including at least 14 members of the Al-Laham family, and one child was reportedly injured. The bombardment took place in Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Yunis Governorate, south of the Gaza Strip.

Initial sources reported that 11 civilians were killed but later the Al-Isa Al-Laham Facebook account posted 14 names of the Al-Laham family who were killed in the attack: Najiya Saqr Al-Laham (53 years old, female), Saleh Zuhair Al-Laham (19 years old, male), Ahmed Zuhair Al-Laham (17 years old, male), Hassan Zuhair Al-Laham (11 years old, male), Fawzi Zuhair Al-Laham (37 years old, male), Maysaa Zuhair Al-Laham (21 years old, female), Youssef Fawzi Al-Laham (four years old, male), Mona Fawzi Al-Laham (seven years old, female), Saeed Nabil Al-Laham (28 years old, male), Shaima Zuhair Al-Laham (23 years old, female), Ezzedine Saeed Al-Lahham (three years old, male), Shaima Saeed Al-Laham (less than a year old, female), Haifa Al Laham (32 years old, female) and Youssef Mohammed Ahmed Al-Laham (six years old, male). The bodies of the victims were held at Nasser Hospital.

A Facebook post from Hussam Khalifa identified the home which was “targeted” as the house of their uncle, Khan Yunis municipal engineer Ahmed Khalafallah, and put the death toll from the Al-Laham family at 20 killed.

Multiple sources reported of injuries, and Mohammed Abu Adham posted on Facebook a photo of an injured child, Fulla Al-Laham, recovering in a hospital bed, adding that they are now without a family.

Every victim name mentioned by sources were found by Airwars researchers within 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. Jafra posted on Twitter/X that the ambulances which rushed to the scene were also attacked. This incident has been assessed separately by Airwars in case number ISPT0075a.

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 in the evening.

The victims were named as:

Family members (15)

Najiya Saqr Al-Lahham نجية صقر اللحام
53 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 969947183
Saleh Zuhair Al-Laham صالح زهير اللحام
19 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 409743242
Ahmed Zuhair Al-Laham احمد زهير اللحام
17 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 422720433
Hassan Zuhair Al-Laham حسان زهير اللحام
11 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 433259405
Fawzi Zuhair Al-Laham فوزي زهير اللحام
37 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 801449406
Maysaa Zuhair Al-Laham ميساء زهير اللحام
21 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 408010536
Youssef Fawzi Al-Lahham يوسف فوزي اللحام
4 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 442230322
Mona Fawzi Al-Lahham منى فوزي اللحام
7 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 436772644
Saeed Nabil Al-Laham سعيد نبيل اللحام
28 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 400783544
Shaima Zuhair Al-Laham شيماء زهير اللحام
23 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 405810169
Ezzedine Saeed Al-Lahham عزالدين سعيد اللحام
3 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 442968095
Shaima Saeed Al-Laham شيماء سعيد اللحام
0.6 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 444639603
Haifa Al Laham هيفاء اللحام
32 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 802957639
Youssef Mohammed Ahmed Al-Laham يوسف محمد احمد اللحام
6 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 438568271
Fulla Al-Laham فللة اللحامv
Child male injured

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the area of Al Mawasi (المواسي) to the west of Rafah (رفح). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Al Mawasi are:  31.360821, 34.271507.

{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[{"type":"Feature","properties":{"stroke":"#ff0000","stroke-width":1,"stroke-opacity":1,"fill-opacity":0},"geometry":{"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[34.2425288,31.326733],[34.234289,31.3345777],[34.2527426,31.3506316],[34.2701662,31.3649972],[34.2856158,31.3801666],[34.2902506,31.3826579],[34.3000353,31.3924029],[34.3094767,31.3898386],[34.3062151,31.3817054],[34.2954863,31.3758432],[34.28347,31.3690279],[34.2590083,31.3447674],[34.2425288,31.326733]]]}}]}

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    14 – 20
  • (7 children4 women3 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–2
  • 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 (19) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (6) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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

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

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

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

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

    Source: Mohammed Abu Adham facebook

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
    14 – 20
  • (7 children4 women3 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–2
  • 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 (19) [ collapse]