Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0043

Incident date

October 9, 2023

Location

تل الزعتر, Tal al Zaatar, North Gaza, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.533112, 34.504583 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On 9 October at approximately 3:30 am, at least four civilians, including two women and two children, were killed and at least one further civilian injured in an alleged Israeli airstrike on a house in Tal Al-Zaatar, located in the north of the Gaza Strip.

A report from the Defense of Children International identified 8-month-old Rakan Sameh Ahmad as killed in the strike intended for his family’s neighbour’s house. In addition, three members of the Hamdan family were killed, including Umm Mukhles Hamdan, her son Moataz Ibrahim Hamdan and her daughter Amani Ibrahim Hamdan. Alongside this, Ikhlas Ibrahim Hamdan, sibling of Moataz and Amani, was injured. Images posted by Aljazeera show four children identified as being injured in Tal al-Zaatar area.

The two-storey house that five families inhabited was ‘completely destroyed’, according to a report from Al Mezan Center for Human Rights. Simultaneously, homes nearby were affected with a tweet from @Wael Ouda describing the attempts to rescue civilians as ‘difficult’.

This narrative collaborates with a report from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) and a series of tweets from user @Shebab Agency. All reporting of the incident indicate that the Israeli Military were responsible for the attack and @Wael Ouda added that the strike occurred “without warning”.

Airwars was unable to match the names of victims with Palestinian MoH data released on October 26th 2023.

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 incident occured at approximately 3:30 am local time.

The victims were named as:

Rakan Sameh Ahmad راكان سامح احمد
0.8 years old male killed
Umm Mukhles Hamdan ام مخلص حمدان
Adult female killed
Moataz Ibrahim Hamdan معتز ابراهيم حمدان
Age unknown male killed
Amani Ibrahim Hamdan اماني ابراهيم حمدان
Age unknown female killed
Ikhlas Ibrahim Hamda اخلاص ابراهيم حمدان
Age unknown female injured

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the neighbourhood of Tal al Zaatar (تل الزعتر) to the east of Jabalia (جباليا). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to find boundaries for the neighbourhood and to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Tal al Zaatar are: 31.533112, 34.504583.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4
  • (2 children2 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–4
  • 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 (15) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (8) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Source: Dr. Kamal 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
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4
  • (2 children2 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–4
  • 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 (15) [ collapse]