On October 18th 2023, at around 5.15am, an alleged Israeli airstrike hit the Labad family home near the Yarmouk Mosque, east of Jabalia Camp in Gaza. A number of deaths and injuries were reported, including several women and children. However, the precise number remains unknown as many victims were reported as still missing beneath the rubble. The victims have not been identified.

At 5.17am Shehab Agency reported ‘martyrs and wounded when occupation aircraft bombed a house for the Labad family near the Yarmouk Mosque in Gaza.’ Several other news outlets subsequently reported the same incident, mentioning killed and wounded victims, including women and children.

In videos and photos shared online, children are shown trapped beneath the rubble, dozens of people surround the victims trying to dig them out and others lift the collapsed building in search of other victims.  In a video shared by @SbintQtr, a young boy, buried chest deep in rubble, gestures in distress towards the camera as he, helped by those around him, tries to get out. The comment alongside the video reads ‘‘the moment a child was rescued from under the rubble after the occupation bombed a house for the Labad family east of the Jabalia camp, leaving a number of martyrs and injuries at dawn today.’

On the 19th October, the day after the incident, several users on social media reported that a number of victims were still beneath the rubble. @Alaqsavoice_Brk tweeted ‘there are a number of citizens under the rubble.’ Facebook user Anas also reported that ‘the search for missing persons is still ongoing.’

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