Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0080

Incident date

October 10, 2023

Location

تل الزعتر, Tal al-Zaatar , North Gaza, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.533112, 34.504583 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

In the evening of October 10th, 2023, up to nine members of the Shaheen family, including two women, a 17-year old child and 10-year old child, were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike on their family home in the Tal al-Zaatar area of the Jabalia camp in the north of the Gaza strip. The three-storey family house was completely destroyed, and at least three more people were reported wounded. Sources said that the attack happened without a prior warning.

The number of people reported killed in the airstrike rose over time with Shihab Agency at first simply reporting that there was “a martyr and a number of injuries”. This was quickly followed by an update stating that the number of people killed had “risen to 6” and that there were still “missing people under the rubble”. Shaab Radio confirmed that specialised teams had been working to recover bodies of people killed in the attack.

Later that evening, the Palestinian Information Center reported that “the number of martyrs has risen to eight as a result of the bombing of the Shaheen family home in Tal Al-Zaatar”. DCIP reported that according to Palestinian civil defense teams, two bodies were recovered from the building and an estimated 10 Palestinians were inside during the bombing” and that everyone inside was killed, including at least one child.

The following day, different family members and neighbours posted online the names of nine people killed. Amongst those killed were the father of the family Sami Shaheen Abu Youssef (53 years old), his wife Fayza Al-Mabhouh Umm Youssef and their four sons: Youssef Shaheen (33 years old), Mustafa Shaheen (30 years old), Ismail Shaheen (28 years old), and Muhammad Shaheen. Among the victims were also their two daughters Hadeel Shaheen (23 years old) and Lama Shaheen (17 years old) who were also killed, as well as Sami and Fayza’s nephew, 10-year old Mohammad Baraa Tayseer Shaheen. Abeer Sami, a son of Sami Shaheen Abu Youssef, posted a statement on Facebook stating that “all members of my family were martyred”.

The North Gaza Governorate Police Command remembered their colleague, the late Sami Shaheen Abu Youssef, in its Facebook post also released a statement on the airstrike stating that: “Major Sami Shaheen ascended this evening, October 10th, 2023. As a result of brutal bombing by [Israeli] aircraft, his house was [destroyed] with a number of his family members”.

The death of a 10-year old Mohammad Baraa Tayseer Shaheen was mourned in a Facebook testimony by Ibrahim Abo Hamouda, who wrote: “Peace be upon your pure soul, Mohammad Baraa Shaheen.”

Accfares Khater, a neighbour of the Shaheen family, further stated that, in addition to the nine family members killed, there were “a number of other injuries” while @UnewsAgency1 reported that three people were wounded in the bombing. Multiple sources, such as Accfares Khater and Mahmoud Shahin on Facebook, said that there was no prior warning before the strike.

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 at approximately 9:25 pm local time.

The victims were named as:

Family members (9)

Sami Shaheen Abu Youssef سامي شاهين
53 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 926278789
Fayza Al-Mabhouh, Umm Youssef فايزة المبحوح
female killed
Youssef Shaheen يوسف شاهين
33 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 802639229
Mustafa Shaheen مصطفى شاهين
30 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 804418127
Ismail Shaheen اسماعيل شاهين
28 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 400614160
Muhammad Shaheen محمد شاهين
male killed
Hadeel Shaheen هديل شاهين
23 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 405447772
Lama Shaheen لمى شاهين
17 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 424321677
Mohammad Baraa Tayseer Shaheen محمد براء تيسير شاهين
10 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 433390135

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the neighbourhood of Tal Al-Zaatar (تل الزعتر) to the east of Jabalia (جباليا). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to find boundaries for the neighbourhood and to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Tal Al-Zaatar are: 31.533112, 34.504583.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    IDP or refugee camp, Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    8 – 9
  • (2 children2 women5 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    3
  • 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 (18) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (17) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Source: Mohammed Jamal Shahin
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mohammed Jamal Shahin
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mohammed Jamal Shahin
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mohammed Jamal Shahin
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mohammed Jamal Shahin
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Ibrahim Abo Hamouda
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: North Gaza police
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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
    IDP or refugee camp, Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    8 – 9
  • (2 children2 women5 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    3
  • 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 (18) [ collapse]