On October 10, 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike killed 20 identified civilians, including four women and at least ten children, and wounded dozens of civilians who stayed at the Al Naffar family’s house on Al-Sahaba Street in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza city. Fifteen victims of the attack belonged to the extended Al Naffar family, including the family’s grandmother and a mother with her six children. Several members of the Al-Kafarna family – described as displaced civilians originally from Sheikh Radwan – were also among those killed and injured in the same attack, including a pregnant woman.

The exact number of injured civilians is unknown, but according to a relative of the Al Naffar family, Mahmoud Al Naffar, “a major massacre in his cousins’ house without warning left dozens of martyrs and wounded”. His Facebook post also included a video of an infant being pulled from the rubble. Airwars identified the names of at least two women and one man injured, alongside the named fatalities.

Al Naffar Family

Islam Al Naffar announced the death of her entire Al Naffar family in a Twitter post that was later re-shared by Shehab Agency. She also expressed her unbearable pain over the loss of her loved ones in a Facebook post, featuring pictures and videos of her perished relatives. “My heart aches for you, my beloved ones, why did you go and leave me? Goodbye, my soul, goodbye, my beloved, goodbye, my life”, – she wrote.

The bombardment killed a mother of six children, Amal Al-Naffar (Al-Maaswbi), and all her children, namely, her four sons – Hamza Al-Maaswbi, Bader Al-Din Al-Maaswbi, Basheer Al-Maaswbi, and Abdul Rahman Al-Maaswbi, and two daughters, Jinan Al-Maaswbi and Asil Al-Maaswbi. Her husband Mohammmad Abo Hamza wrote in a powerful testimony on Facebook: “My wife, my soul, the joy of my heart, my life partner, Amal Al-Nafar. And my beloved children, we were like friends: Hamza, Jinan, Asil, Abdul Rahman, Bader Al-Din, and Basheer Al-Maaswabi. By God, the eyes will shed tears and the heart will grieve.”

Zakawa kitchen wrote a touching testimony on Facebook about Amal’s dreams and aspirations to study. “She got married at an early age, and her dream was to go to school. She gave birth to six children, and that only increased her insistence on studying until God granted her the grace to sit the high school exams with her eldest son, Hamzah, and obtain an average of 78%. But she was not able to share the joy of achieving the dream, as yesterday she became a martyr… It was as if she was saying to the world: I will not leave without my children.”

Relatives of Amal Al-Naffar also reportedly killed consisted of Ibrahim Al Naffar, his wife, their son Khalil Al Naffar and their daughter. Abo Nizar remembered the family in a Facebook testimony.

Iman Khalil, described as a grandmother of the extended Al Naffar family who was also killed in the airstrike, was remembered by her nephew Abo Kareem Mohammed in a Facebook post: “The martyrdom of my aunt Iman, her children, grandchildren and daughter May God have mercy on you, my aunt, you, Amal, and everyone. Our Lord chose you as martyrs”.

The airstrike also took the lives of Momen Al Naffar (Abu Anas), killed together with his wife Fatima Al Naffar and their infant son Anas Al Naffar. The family friend Roba Mohammaed Abo Hashem wrote on Facebook: “May God have mercy on you, forgive you, and accept you, my love.” Momen Al Naffar was also mourned by his brother Tareq El Akhras.

Al-Kafarna family 

Relatives of the family announced the deaths of at least five members of the Al-Kafarna family, including a pregnant woman, and three others injured. According to Sofian Tafesh, these victims were originally from Beit Hanoun, and were living in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood after being forcibly displaced from their homes. Sources identified among those killed engineer Dr. Muhammad Ali Al-Kafarna Abu Ali,  his son Ali Muhammad Ali Al-Kafarna, his son Misbah Muhammad Ali Al-Kafarna, Ali and Rashid’s brother-in-law Rashid Rushdi Dabour. The latter was described as a member of the Fatah youth by Mohammed Majed.

Floura Al Masri initially additionally identified Muhammad’s wife Nihad (Oum Ali), their children, and Mohammad’s brothers-in-law as having been killed, but later edited her post to clarify that Nihad and her son Alaa Muhammad Ali Al-Kafarna and Nihad’s daughter were still alive and had only been injured. Several sources indicated that they were undergoing a medical operation, with Rafiq Fadi noting that the mother and her daughter were “undergoing intensive treatment in an operating room”. Mohanad M Elmasri posted on Facebook: “Praise be to God, my friend Alaa Muhammad Al-Kafarna is ok” alongside a picture of Alaa with a bandaged arm and blood on his face sitting outside.

Alaa Muhammad Ali Al-Kafarna announced on social media that his pregnant wife, identified as Douaa Muhammad Ahmad Taha Al-Kafarna, was killed in a heartfelt message posted on Facebook. Douaa was described by Beit Hanoun Girls Secondary School as an “outstanding and polite student.”

Zakaria Al Kafarna called the attack a “massacre”.

Other victims identified

Among the victims of the bombardment was also Youssef Refaat Amer – a student of Nour Al Bayan Center in the Radwan Martyrs Mosque. The management of the Nour Al-Bayyan Center wrote a testimony about him. Though pictures of him were published, Youssef’s age was not provided by the sources – as such Airwars estimated the number of children killed to range between ten and eleven.

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

The exact time of the incident is unknown.

Where possible, Airwars has matched names with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of nearly 7000 victims’ names and ID numbers released on October 26th.