Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0285

Incident date

October 17, 2023

Location

شارع ابو عارف, Abu Arif Street, Deir al Balah, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.408654, 34.353214 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Street level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

At least 12 people were killed and 12 others were reportedly injured after an alleged Israeli airstrike hit the al-Zari’i residence on Abu Arif Street Street in Deir Al-Balah on October 17th, 2023. Most of the deceased were members of the al-Zari’i family.

@ShehabAgency reported that seven people had been killed and 12 injured, and published on Twitter/X images of rescue teams removing people from the rubble, as well as scenes of funeral prayers for multiple victims. A Facebook post by Alzreae (al-Zari’i) said the strike occurred at night, and identified 11 members of the al-Zari’i as having been killed in the attack.

A Facebook post from Mohammed al-Zari’i identified the names of 10 members of the family who were killed: Um Ibrahim al-Zari’i, the grandmother of the family, was killed along with her son, 27 year old Ibrahim Saber al-Zari’i and her three daughters, 29 year old Doaa Saber al-Zari’i, 30 year old Safaa Saber al-Zari’i and Walaa Saber al-Zari’i. Walaa’s five children were also killed. Her two sons, Abdul Rahman Samir Saad, two months old, and Abdullah Samir Saad, 8 years old, both died, as did her three daughters: Rateel Samir Saad (10), Tala Samir Saad (8) and Yara Samir Saad (6).

A post from Samer mourned their brother’s wife Walaa and their children, along with providing images of the children who were killed.

Muhammad Abu Samra provided a video of Ibrahim Saber Al-Zari’i receiving his master’s degree in Hadith sciences and interpretation from the Islamic University of Gaza.

Two others who were killed appear to have been displaced, and were sheltering in the al-Zari’i home. These were a 58 year old woman named Fathia Ibrahim Muhammad al-Awawda and a 59 year old woman named Wafa Ibrahim Farhan al-Awawda, who appear to be relatives.

Graphic images posted by Zeyneb show what is described as the body parts of the children killed, which “were scattered on the roofs of neighbors’ houses”. Other sources mentioned that there were still people under the rubble at the time of reporting.

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.

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

The incident occured during the night.

The victims were named as:

Family members (10)

Um Ibrahim al-Zari’i إم إبراهيم الزريعي
Adult female killed
Ibrahim Saber al-Zari’i إبراهيم صابر الزريعي
27 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 402169668
Doaa Saber al-Zari’i دعاء صابر الزريعي
29 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 804759033
Safaa Saber al-Zari’i صفاء صابر الزريعي
30 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 803917384
Walaa Saber al-Zari’i ولاء صابر الزريعي
Adult female killed
Abdul Rahman Samir Saad عبد الرحمن سمير سعد
0.2 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 444048110
Abdullah Samir Saad عبد الله سمير سعد
8 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 435962212
Rateel Samir Saad رتيل سمير سعد
10 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 433935665
Tala Samir Saad تالا سمير سعد
8 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 435962220
Yara Samir Saad يارا سمير سعد
6 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 438325052

Family members (2)

Fathia Ibrahim Muhammad al-Awawda فتحية إبراهيم محمد العواودة
58 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 947116737
Wafa Ibrahim Farhan al-Awawda وفاء إبراهيم فرحان العواودة
59 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 937050177

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention Abu Arif Street (شارع ابو عارف) to the east of Deir al Balah (دير البلح), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.408654, 34.353214. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

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Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    12 – 13
  • (5 children6 women1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12
  • 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 (29) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (43) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @ShehabAgency
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @ShehabAgency
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @ShehabAgency
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @ShehabAgency
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @ShehabAgency
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @ShehabAgency
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @ShehabAgency
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Source: @ShehabAgency
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @ShehabAgency
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @ShehabAgency
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @Benkanaan2
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @50Dirham
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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
    12 – 13
  • (5 children6 women1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12
  • 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 (29) [ collapse]