Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0312

Incident date

October 17, 2023

Location

رفح, Rafah, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.296461, 34.243759 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On 17th October, 2023, an alleged Israeli strike reportedly hit the Abdel-Al family home on George Street in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, killing 28 year old Nour El-Din Mahmoud Abdel-Al and injuring others.

A Facebook post by journalist Adel Zourob reported that a deceased person had arrived at the hospital “after the bombing of the Abdel-Al family’s house on George Street.”  The deceased is presumed to be Nour El-Din Mahmoud Abdel-Al. Multiple sources mentioned “injuries” occurring from the strike but did not provide an injury toll.

Several relatives of Nour El-Din Mahmoud Abdel-Al posted condolence messages on Facebook after his death, including cousins Salem Abdallah, Ibrahim Azab and Ayat Mohammed, and an uncle, Om Ibrahim. The posts included a prayer acknowledging Nour as “being provided for” with the Lord. The prayer also included hopes for his family’s patience and comfort.

Another Facebook post by Ansam Yasser, the brother-in-law of Nour El-Din Abdel-Al, included a picture of Nour, and read, “May God have mercy on you, Nour, and give patience to your heart, my sister, my sister’s husband, Nour Abdel-Al, is a martyr”.

Airwars has matched the name of the civilian killed with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023, which explicitly mentions that names on the list are “victims of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip”. Therefore this incident has been graded as a single source claim.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Nour El-Din Mahmoud Abdel-Al نور الدين محمود عبد العال
28 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 400887550

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the city of Rafah (رفح), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.296461, 34.243759. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Single source claim
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 (13) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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

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

    Source: Ansam Yasser

Israeli Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Single source claim
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 (13) [ collapse]