On October 17th 2023, a young male civilian was reportedly killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Al-Astal family home behind the battalion in Khan Yunis.

Posts circulated on social media have paid tribute and shared an image of the victim, 20 year old Rakan Khaled Muhammad Abdul Aziz Al-Astal. In one post, the user, Leena Alqedrah, offered their prayers to Rakan’s family.

A further Facebook post by user Khaled Abdel Salam Abu Walid reported that the funeral was planned for ‘tomorrow, Wednesday, at ten o’clock at the Austrian Stadium’.

News reporting and Twitter/X posts, such as from user @PalinfoAr on the day of the incident, reported that there were martyrs and injuries from the strike. However, there is no further detail on the wounded or additional victims killed.

In cases where sources attributed responsibility for the strike, they held the Israeli military responsible.

Airwars has matched the victim’s name with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.