On October 11th 2023, an alleged airstrike/artillery strike by the Israeli military on the Fojo family house located in the Al-Shouka area, east of Rafah city in the Gaza Strip reportedly killed at least one man, 21-year old Osama Hani Youssef Fojo.

When Airwars first published this incident on December 1, 2023, no open sources were found to suggest that Hani Youssef Fojo was a militant. As such, Hani Youssef Fojo was recorded as a civilian. This was in line with Airwars’ methodology which is employed across all conflicts we document, and informed by international standards regarding the ‘presumption of civilian status‘. Specifically, as outlined by the International Committee of the Red Cross, civilian status is assumed until evidence is identified to the contrary.

On July 20, 2026, a Telegram account affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)’s armed wing, published a tribute to Hani Youssef Fojo, identifying him as a fighter. As such, Airwars updated Hani Youssef Fojo’s status from civilian to militant. As he was the only civilian reportedly harmed in this incident, the strike and civilian harm status have been changed from ‘likely’ and ‘fair’ to ‘discounted’.

Human rights organisation Al Mezan noted that the Fojo family house was one of the homes to be destroyed in Rafah during a period of intense bombardment by Israeli forces.

The late Osama Hani Fojo was mentioned in a number of social media obituaries posted by friends and family members. His uncle Mohsen Ahmad Fojo wrote in a Facebook testimony: “My nephew, the beloved of my heart, my soul, a martyr, Osama Hani Fojo.” He also posted a video of Osama’s funeral. According to Mohsen, four of Osama’s siblings (Khaled, Muhammad, Ahmed, and Bosli) had also died but the post did not specify when. Nourdeen Shaweesh expressed his condolences to the neighbouring Fojo family on the death of their son.

Airwars was able to find Osama Fojo’s name among 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.