Geolocation
Airwars assessment
On October 9th 2023, an alleged strike by the Israeli military resulted in the destruction of the old municipality building of Khan Yunis and the surrounding area. At least four civilians were killed in this attack. Through various social media posts, they were identified as Hani Ghassan Qudyah (19 years old), Ahmed Shehdeh Abu Teir (53 years old), Shehda Abu Latifa and Wissam al-Daghma (18 years old). The posts noted that prior to this attack, they were fleeing from the east of the Khan Yunis district, with one source adding that 50 others were injured.
Social media posts about funerals identified the four men referenced above. A Facebook post by Sharif Shurrab is the only post to mention a fifth casualty. Based on a report by Reuters, it is likely that this death is that of a 4 year old girl named Shahib Abu Rokbah. She was also reported to be fleeing with her family from the east of Khan Yunis district when she was killed. The report by Reuters includes testimony from a volunteer who noted that “they tried to escape death only to find it… They came to find shelter. They were taking refuge next to the stairs where it could have been a safe place. They targeted them and killed them.”
Though two social media posts and @ShehabAgency reported that people were wounded in this incident, no consistent figures were provided. Sharif Shurrab’s post was the only source which noted the number of wounded at 50.
Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.
Airwars recorded a civilian harm incident the same day resulting in reported civilian harm in an area close to the Grand Mosque, which is adjacent to the old municipality building. As at least one source, Wafa news reports, mentioned several strikes in the same location, this incident has been coded separately as ISP0060. Given the proximity of the locations of both incidents, and the lack of details regarding the victims of ISPT0060, it is possible that some of the casualty figures tracked here overlape. Airwars will update both incidents should new information come to light.
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:
Geolocation notes (2) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention the old municipality building (مبنى البلدية القديم) in Khan Younis (خان يونس). Analysing audio-visual material from sources, we have narrowed the location down to the following exact coordinates: 31.343054, 34.302671.
Summary
Sources (13) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (20) [ collapse]
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Source: ALsahreq news -
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Source: ALsahreq news -
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Source: ALsahreq news -
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Source: ALsahreq news -
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Source: ALsahreq news -
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Source: ALsahreq news -
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Source: ALsahreq news -
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Source: ALsahreq news -
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Source: Abu Mosaab facebook -
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Source: Mohammed Oudeh facebook -
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Source: Osama Ali Facebook -
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Source: Al Kabira Absan facebook -
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Source: Ahmad Qudeih facebook -
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Source: Ahmad Qudeih facebook -
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Source: Ahmad Qudeih facebook -
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Source: Ahmad Qudeih facebook -
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Source: Abu Tair Family facebok -
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