In the evening of Wednesday, October 18th 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike on a yard outside the Ahmed Abdul Aziz School funded by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and located in the al-Hawoz area of the Khan Younis Camp, near the Nasser Hospital, killed at least five civilians, including two children and three men, and reportedly injured at least 40 people. The school hosted displaced civilians from Northern Gaza.

The death toll may be significantly higher than five civilians as Masrawy news wrote about “dozens of martyrs and wounded”. A correspondent of Al Ghad TV reported about 40 injured people, while a post from Alhadath Palestine identified 60 injuries.

Al Arabiya correspondent reported that civil protection crews were heading to the school. After the bombardment, social media users, including @hamdibokari on Twitter/X and Al-Sharq Palestine on Facebook, shared videos documenting wounded children being transported to an ambulance and arriving at the hospital, though further details about the remaining victims and their current conditions were not available.

The attack killed children of a man named Ali Al-Qara; his 15-year old daughter Najla Ali Muhammad Al-Qara and 5-year old son Zein Ali Muhammad Al-Qara. According to Majeddiyab Facebook post, they were originally from the town of Khuza’a and were displaced to the Ahmed Abdul Aziz school. Their father Ali Al-Qara wrote a heartfelt testimony on Facebook mourning the loss of his children. He also shared an image of Zein – a young boy in a t-shirt and yellow jacket.

Najla Al-Qara was known for her high school success  –  Anwaa Alrhel wrote about her achievements in a Facebook tribute and shared an image of a girl holding a certificate in her hands surrounded by her teachers or relatives.

According to the social media tributes, among the victims of the attack were also three men –  Ali Muhammad Suleiman Abu Rizq, Hisham Abu Rida, and Ahmed Al-Ghouti.  According to the Twitter/X post by @KareemQaddura, Hisham and Ahmed were also displaced from Northern Gaza while Hani Abu Mustafa identified Ali Muhammad as a school teacher.

The deaths of Ali Muhammad Suleiman Abu Rizq and Ahmed Al-Ghouti were mourned in many Facebook posts. A Facebook post by user Ali said “We count you among the martyrs before God. Beloved friend Ali Muhammad Abu Rizq”. From the attached image the late Ali Abu Rizq is seen as a middle-aged bearded man in a black t-shirt. A Facebook post by user Wesam featured an image of the dead body of Ali Muhammad wrapped in a white cloth stained with blood. Ahmed Al-Ghouti’s cousin Saaed shared an image of a young Ahmed Al-Ghouti where he was standing near a red car.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces. The exact time of the strike is unknown.

Airwars matched all the named victims with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of nearly 7000 victims’ names and ID numbers released on October 26th.