An alleged Israeli airstrike using several missiles struck a residential building in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza in the evening of October 7th, 2023. Fifteen members of the al-Dous family, including seven children and three women, were reportedly killed due to the destruction of their three-storey home.

Juma al-Dous posted that “more than 15 people” from the family were under the rubble while DCI Palestine reported that ten people, including five children, were killed. Airwars has adopted a minimum casualty estimate of 15, given that fifteen victims were named by local sources and relatives of the family. Amnesty International also reported 15 deaths from al-Dous family members.

The following names were identified by reviewing sources from various social media posts by individuals in the neighborhood, family members and the Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI Palestine): 74-year-old Awni Adel Al-Dous and his wife 68-year-old Ibtisam Mohammed Khalil Al-Dous; and their grandchildren Ibtisam Adel Awni Al-Dous, 17 years old; Rawand Adel Awni Al-Dous, 15 years old; Awni Adel Al-Dous, 12 years old; Ahmad Adel Awni Al-Dous, 10 years old; Rakan Mohammad Awni Al-Dous, four years old; Zaid Adel Awni Al-Dous, three years old; and the youngest child killed Adam Osama Al-Dous was just 18 months old.

A post from Nrmeen Mamdouh identified Ibtisam Adel Awni Al-Dous as a student who received a grade of 100% during her 11th academic year. Shuhada Al-Zaytoun Basic School for Boys offered condolences to “the brilliant student” Awni Adel Awni Al-Dous. Another post identified Awni as a Youtuber who wanted to be famous. Yahya Al Jamal described Omar Awni Al-Dous (Abu Karim) as patient, polite, genuine, cheerful and kind-hearted.

Six other victims killed in the strikes were identified by local sources as four men – siblings (and sons of Awni and Ibtisam based on their names) 42-year-old Adel Awni Al-Dous, 36-year-old Omar Awni Al-Dous (“Abu Karim”), 27-year-old Muhannad Awni Al-Dous, 32-year-old Osama Awni Al-Dous – and two women – 28-year-old Israa Totah and Elham Ahmed Raqiq.

Amnesty International quoted Mohammad Al-Dous, father of Rakan Mohammad Awni Al-Dous, who said “two bombs fell suddenly on top of the building and destroyed it. My wife and I were lucky to survive because we were staying on the top floor. She was nine-months pregnant and gave birth at al-Shifa hospital a day after the attack. Our entire family has been destroyed.”

The Al-Dous family posted on Facebook that the bombing of the home of Hajj Awni Al-Dous resulted in the complete destruction of the house and “created a state of fear and panic in the area”. Amnesty added that it took relatives, neighbours, and rescue teams more than six hours to remove the bodies from the rubble.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces. Multiple sources mentioned that the home was bombed without a warning and Amnesty quoted one of the neighbors of the victims who said “It was sudden, boom, nobody told us anything”. Amnesty’s research also indicated that they “found no evidence of military targets in the area at the time of the attack”.

Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Since October 26, 2023 the MoH has released six lists, along with an additional list of medical professionals, which was released on September 17, 2024. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, all but three of the names are matched to the first ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on October 26, 2023. In the cases of Adam Osama Al-Dous, Osama Awni Al-Dous, and Awni Adel Al-Dous, the names are matched to the fifth ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on June 30, 2024.