Airwars assessment
On Tuesday, October 24th 2023, it was reported that three civilians were killed and at least seven were injured, including four children, as a result of an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Abu Ratima family home in Tal al-Sultan, west of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
Teleet Barhoum had posted on Facebook on the day of the alleged strike explaining that 52-year-old Fawzia Barhoum had died of her injuries.
Maslah Ziyade Abu Khatleh posted that his brother 90-year-old Hamad Ziyad Ismail Abu Khatla was also killed as a result of the alleged strike. A picture the elderly Hamad, dressed smartly in a traditional thawb, was included.
Abu Waleed Abu Ratima posted the day after the alleged strike describing how many of his family members were affected. He reported that Ahmed Abu Artemah, a journalist, had been injured in the alleged strike. Ahmed’s three children, Abdullah, Muhammad and Boutal had also been injured in the incident.
Abu Waleed Abu Ratima also wrote how his sisters Fatima and Banan Selmy were also injured, as well as his daughter Joud. He reported that Banan and Joud remained in intensive care along with Abdullah.
Another victim, a 66-year-old woman named Khairiyah Ahmed Mohammed Al-Akhras was killed in the incident.
Rafah City Official Account put the estimates of injuries at dozens, however, no other sources corroborated this claim.
Palestine News posted an image, taken by Doaa Khaled, of a young woman in distress, with a young girl crying and holding on to her, as they walk away from the site of the alleged airstrike.
Doaa Khaled herself added photos of the destruction caused by the alleged airstrike, with the images showing a large crater in the ground, a pool of blood and a building with the walls missing from two floors. Pictures also showed people helping two men walk away from the destruction, they were covered in dust but appeared uninjured.
One source, Husseyn Abu Tareq, reported in a post on Facebook that the family of Abu Khatla in Jordan, Rafah and the diaspora mourned the death of their relative Hamad Ziyad Ismail Abu Khatla and multiple sources, referring to him as “uncle”, posted prayers for him.
A relative of the victims, Abu Waleed Abu Ratimah, in a post on Facebook, mourned the death of Fawzia and asked people to pray for the recovery of Betoul, Abdullah and Joud, who remained in intensive care.
Reports explained how the house was situated behind the Al-Qadisiyah School and multiple sources reported that the house belonged to Khairy Abu Ratima.
The pictures showed that the reported strike occurred during the day.
The identities of Khairiyah Ahmed Mohammed Al-Akhras and Hamad Ziyad Ismail Abu Khatla have been reconciled with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities published on October 26, 2023.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
Due to the scale and urgency of Airwars’ assessment process, all images have been automatically uploaded to each assessment with the graphic filter applied to protect users. We have also included all images identified from the sources, which may also include any imagery of combatants.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (8)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (18) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (9) [ collapse]
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Source: Maslah Ziyade Abu Khatleh -
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Source: Palestine News -
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Source: Doaa Khaled -
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Source: Doaa Khaled -
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Source: Doaa Khaled -
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Source: Doaa Khaled -
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Source: Doaa Khaled -
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