Five civilians were killed and three children were injured, across three generations of the Daloul family, when an alleged Israeli bomb hit their home on October 9th 2023. Two members of the Daloul family have been identified as militants and were also killed.

Posting to social media about the bombing sources agreed that the house was east of Gaza City, in the Sabra or Zeitoun neighbourhood. Referring to local landmarks, some wrote that the home was next to the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque, while others said it was opposite the Ard al-Rabat Mosque. Surviving members of the family were reported to have had to pull their loved ones from the rubble of the building.

The Daloul family

Grandparents Umm Ali Daloul and Mustafa Ali Daloul (54 years old) were killed. Their son Ali Mustafa Ali Daloul and his wife, Aya Muhammed Farajallah (Umm Mustafa) were killed. Aya and Ali’s daughter Zein Daloul (identified as either 5 or 7) was killed, while her young siblings Mustafa Daloul (5), Karem Daloul, and Karma Daloul were all injured.

Brothers Muhammad Mustafa Ali Daloul (24 years old) and Fares Mustafa Ali Daloul (17 years old) were reported killed. The brothers’ father, Mustafa Daloul Al-Darash, was also killed, as reported by Mazen Drabya.

Identifying members of the family who were militants 

Two members of the family were reportedly militants: Ali Mustafa Ali Daloul (Abu Mustafa) (29 years old) and Muhammed Mustafa Ali Daloul (24 years old).

Ali Mustafa Ali Daloul – a militant

According to multiple sources, Ali Daloul was a field commander in the National Resistance Brigades, the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. On Twitter/X, Hayawi identified Ali Mustafa as a militant, as did Telegram account Martyr Omar al-Qassem Forces. He appears to have been involved in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)’s military operations).

Muhammad Mustafa Ali Daloul – a militant

When Airwars first published this incident on November 1, 2023, Airwars had not found sources to suggest that Muhammad Mustafa Ali Daloul was a militant. As such, Muhammad Daloul was recorded as a civilian. This was in line with Airwars’ methodology which is employed across all conflicts we document, and informed by international standards regarding the ‘presumption of civilian status‘. Specifically, as outlined by the International Committee of the Red Cross, civilian status is assumed until evidence is identified to the contrary.

However, on the day of the strike, a Telegram account affiliated with Hamas’ armed wing, Al-Qessam Brigades, published a tribute to Muhammad Daloul, identifying him as a “Martyr[s] of the National Resistance Brigades, the military wing of the Democratic Front”. The account posted another tribute to Muhammad Daloul on June 28, 2026. Upon review, Airwars updated Muhammad Daloul’s status from civilian to militant. However, the minimum number of civilians killed had been mistakenly recorded as five, instead of six, so the quantification of civilians harmed in this incident did not change.

Surviving family members

The family members were reported to be mourned by surviving relatives Hiyam Abdel Rahman Darabeh and Muhammad Farajallah who are Aya’s parents, by her uncle Abu Tamer Farajallah and cousin Nour Farajallah.

Watani Breaking News reported six deaths, all other sources reported seven. Given the identification of two militants and five civilian names, it appears that seven individuals were likely killed, five of whom appear to have been civilians and two of whom appear to have been militants.

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

Where possible, Airwars has matched names with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of nearly 7000 victims’ names and ID numbers released on October 26th.