Geolocation
Airwars assessment
In the morning of October 9th 2023, an Israeli airstrike allegedly hit the Qishta family home, south of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, reportedly killing two civilians, 45 year old Faisal Mohsen Muhammad Qishta and his 25 year old daughter Nour Al-Huda Qishta.
Sources additionally reported a further 12 to 14 civilians were injured. Multiple sources, including the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and Al Mezan, reported that the strike took place without prior warning and resulted in the complete destruction of the home.
Several social media posts from family members confirmed the death of Faisal and Nour, offering words of grief for their lost loved ones. “Make your abode in paradise,” reads a post from Iman Qishta. “Oh heartache.” Several family members shared photos of Faisal. In one he is wearing a blue shirt that says “positive”, and another he is shown posing in front of a ferris wheel. “May God have mercy on you, my uncle Abu Muhammad,” reads a social media post from Mohsen Qishta. “May God have mercy on you, my cousin. Oh God, replace them with a better home than their home.”
Other photos shared by family members and the Qishta family Facebook page appear to show the aftermath of the strike, with rescue workers looking through the wreckage of the heavily damaged home and taking what appear to be bodies covered in blankets or sheets to an ambulance.
Early accounts of the strike from PBC News and a social media post from the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that 12 people were injured in the strike, and the Shehab Agency posted an image of a young girl being treated by medical professionals, with a caption stating that she was injured in the bombing of the Qishta family home in Rafah.
Later accounts from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and Al Mezan both stated that 14 people were injured.
The names of both Nour Qishta and Faisal have been found in the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.
The location was described by sources as the Qishta neighbourhood of Rafah, likely because the family was known in the area.
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 7:10 am local time.
The victims were named as:
Family members (2)
Summary
Sources (10) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (17) [ collapse]
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Source: Hisham Qishta facebook -
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Source: PBC news -
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Source: PBC news -
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Source: PBC news -
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Source: PBC news -
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Source: MFA -
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Source: MFA -
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Source: MFA -
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Source: MFA -
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Source: Qishta family facebook -
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Source: Qishta family facebook -
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Source: Qishta family facebook -
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Source: Mohsen Qishta facebook -
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Source: Mohsen Qishta facebook -
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Source: @ShehabAgency -
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Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the neighbourhood of Qishta (قشطة) in Rafah (رفح). 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 Qishta are: 31.275278, 34.250278.