Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0267

Incident date

October 16, 2023

Location

برج الياسمين, Jasmine Tower, Gaza, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.513807, 34.429204 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (via Airwars) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

During the night of Monday, On October 16, 2023, at least one civilian, a woman, was killed and between two to four civilians were injured, including children, after an Israeli aircraft reportedly bombed an apartment building in the Jasmine Tower located west of Abu Mazen roundabout in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza city.

The Arabic-language Facebook page New World Reserve shared a photograph of a high-rise building burning on its upper floors. While further publicly available details are scarce, numerous social media users shared similar accounts of this event. In its reporting, the news aggregator Nabd stated that Israeli forces “bombed an apartment in the Jasmine Tower, west of Abu Mazen roundabout in Gaza City.”

Posting on Facebook, a neighbor of the deceased named Bassel Aklouk stated that this alleged incident “led to the martyrdom of our neighbor, Umm Yusuf al-Aklouk, may God have mercy on her, and the wounding of her husband and our beloved neighbor, Abu Yusuf, and his children”, sharing a video of the rubble and heavily damaged building.

Bahaa-Udin Asmar, who claimed he was also a resident of the building and witnessed the strike, posted on Facebook: “An unforgettable night. Death was right in front of me when I was in the Jasmine Tower while it was being bombed,” adding that he was injured in the foot during the bombing.

Airwars was not able to match the victim’s name with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023, potentially because none of the sources provided Umm Yusuf’s first name.

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 (4)

Um Yousef Al Aqlouq أم يوسف العكلوك
Adult female killed
Abu Yousef Al Aqlouq أبو يوسف العكلوك
Adult male injured
Child of Abu Yousef Al Aqlouq طفل أبو يوسف العكلوك
Child injured
Child of Abu Yousef Al Aqlouq طفل أبو يوسف العكلوك
Child injured

The victims were named as:

Bahaa Al Din Asmr بهاد الدين أسمر
Age unknown male injured

Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention the Jasmine Tower (برج الياسمين) in Gaza city (مدينة غزة). Analysing audio-visual material from sources, we have narrowed the location down to the following exact coordinates: 31.513807, 34.429204.

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  • Imagery:
    Mohammed A.H

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–4
  • 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 (6) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: New World' Reserve
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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
    1
  • (1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–4
  • 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 (6) [ collapse]