Conflict

Israel and Gaza

Incident Code

ISPT0245

Location

Hamad Town, Khan Younis, Palestinian territories

Geolocation

31.375589, 34.317638
Accuracy: Neighbourhood/area

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

At approximately midnight on October 16th, 2023, at least one civilian, a young man, was killed, and four others were injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike on a residential apartment in Hamad town, Khan Yunis, the Gaza strip.

Initial reportage from Shehab Agency stated a ‘number of casualties’ as a result of the bombing, with a later update from Shehab specifying that there were at least ‘one martyr and a number of injuries.’ The Palestine Information Center noted that the building bombed belonged to the Abu Shawish family, and that a ‘young man was martyred and several injuries have been recovered until this moment’ while Al-Sharq News reported that the strike resulted in the death of a Palestinian and the injury of four others.

One of the images showed a specific apartment in a particular block in Hamad town had been struck. A tweet from @aboodka_04 identified the names of those killed and injured. 18-year-old Ahmed Anwar Ahmed Abu Shawish was killed and 14-year-old Muhammad Anwar Ahmed Abu Shawish, 24-year-old Rami Anwar Ahmed Abu Shawish, 17-year-old Bahaa Anwar Ahmed Abu Shawish, and 44-year-old Ibtisam Ibrahim Abu Shawish were injured. There was no publicly available information to indicate any of them were militants.

A post from Khaled Ali Goevel included a condolence message for Ahmed Anwar Ahmed Abu Shawish, who was a former student, and included an image of them both from an honours ceremony. Ahmed’s father Anwar and brother Mahmoud both posted condolence messages as well, with Anwar describing his son as “you were always smiling in your life, never leave your smile.”

Hamad Housing specified the location of the strike as a high floor in tower E5 in Hamad residential city. According to Arab Events, the body of the young man who was killed arrived at Nasser Medical Complex.

Airwars has matched Ahmed’s name 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 strike to Israeli forces. According to Anwar Abu Shawish, whose son Ahmed was killed, the strike occurred without warning.

Victims

Family members (5)

Muhammad Anwar Ahmed Abu Shawish محمد انور احمد ابو شاويش
14 years old male injured
Rami Anwar Ahmed Abu Shawish ورامى انور احمد ابو شاويش
24 years old male injured
Bahaa Anwar Ahmed Abu Shawish بهاء انور احمد ابو شاويش
17 years old male injured
Ibtisam Ibrahim Abu Shawish ابتسام ابراهيم ابو شاويش
44 years old male injured
Ahmed Anwar Ahmed Abu Shawish احمد انور احمد ابو شاويش
18 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 422492850

Key Information

Military Actor
Strike Type
Airstrike
Strike Status
Likely strike
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Fair
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Civilians reported killed
1
1 Man
Civilians reported injured
4
2 Children, 2 Men

Geolocation Notes

Reports of the incident mention the area of Hamad Town (الشجاعي) to the north of Khan Younis (خان يونس). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Hamad Town are: 31.375589, 34.317638.

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Military Statements

Israeli Military Assessment
Suspected belligerent
Israeli Military
Israeli Military position on incident
Not yet assessed

Media From Sources (19)

Sources (36)