Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0035

Incident date

October 8, 2023

Location

الزوايدة, Az Zawayda, Deir Al Balah, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.429871, 34.370784 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On October 8th 2023, seven civilians, Jihad Abdullah Abu Rikab (35 years old), his wife Rabab Marazeeq Abu Rikab (28 years old), and their five children Nida Abu Rikab (11 years old), Tala Abu Rikab (10 years old), Maria Abu Rikab (eight years old), Sewar Abu Rikab (six years old) and Sham Abu Rikab (four years old) were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike on their home in Az-Zawaida in the central governorate of the Gaza Strip.

Multiple Facebook posts reported the deaths of these civilians as a consequence of the strike, including a post from Jihad Abdullah Abu Rikab’s cousin. Photos shared on Twitter/X by @i_07070 showed the bombed out shell of a house surrounded by rubble.

Shehab agency and an Al-Mezan report noted that at the time people were still trapped under the rubble and therefore the final death toll or number of people wounded might increase.

Al-Mezan’s report noted that seven Palestinians were killed including six children, while all other reports identified two adults and five children killed. All names reported were found by Airwars in the Palestinian Ministry of Health database published on October 26th 2023, with corresponding ages confirming that five of those killed were children.

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 (7)

Jihad Abdullah Abu Rikab جهاد عبدالله ابو ركاب
35 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 802242560
Rabab Maraziq Farhan Abu Rikab رباب مرازيق فرحان ابو ركاب
28 years old female Jihad's wife killed Matched to MoH ID 400899191
Nadha Jihad Abdul Allah Abu Rikab نداء جهاد عبدالله ابو ركاب
11 years old female their child killed Matched to MoH ID 432190593
Tala Jihad Abdullah Abu Rikab تالا جهاد عبدالله ابو ركاب
10 years old female their child killed Matched to MoH ID 434455499
Maria Jihad Abdullah Abu Rikab ماريا جهاد عبدالله ابو ركاب
8 years old female their child killed Matched to MoH ID 436102685
Sewar Jihad Abdullah Abu Rikab سوار جهاد عبدالله ابو ركاب
6 years old female their child killed Matched to MoH ID 438217895
Sham Jihad Abdullah Aburkab شام جهاد عبدالله ابو ركاب
4 years old male their child killed Matched to MoH ID 438392193

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the town of Az Zawayda (الزوايده‎). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Az Zawayda are: 31.429871, 34.370784.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    7
  • (5–6 children1 woman1 man)
  • 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 (12) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (10) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Saleh Suleiman facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Ahmad Mohammed Facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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

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

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

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

    Source: Aref Hassan Facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Aref Hassan Facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: MFA Palestine facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

Israeli Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    7
  • (5–6 children1 woman1 man)
  • 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 (12) [ collapse]