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.
Victims
Family members
(2)
Faisal Mohsen Muhammad Qishtaفيصل محسن محمد قشطة
46 years oldmalekilledMatched to MoH ID 900773086
Nour Al-Huda Qishtaنورالهدى قشطة
25 years oldfemaleDaughter of FaisalkilledMatched to MoH ID 403296221
Fair
Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Civilians reported killed
2
(1 Woman, 1 Man)
Civilians reported injured
12–14
(1 Child)
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.
There is no power nor strength except with God. The martyrdom of my cousin Faisal Qashta Abu Muhammad and his daughter Nour Al-Huda. Their house was directly bombed. My heart is broken, cousin. May God have mercy on you and forgive you.
Content
لااا حوول ولا قوة الا بالله
استشهااد ابن العم فيصل قشطة ابو محمد
وابنته نور الهدى
انر قصف منزله بشكل مباشر
والله كسرة قلب ي بن عم الله يرحمك ويسامحك
Media from Abu Ghazal Hisham Qashta (1)
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The bodies of two martyrs were recovered, and 12 injuries were reported following the Israeli occupation warplanes' bombing of the Qashta family's house in Rafah.
The bodies of two martyrs were recovered, and 12 people were injured after occupation warplanes bombed the Qashta family home in Rafah.
#Gaza_under_attack
#Palestine
Content
The bodies of two martyrs were recovered, and 12 injuries were reported following the #Israeli_occupation warplanes’ bombing of the Qashta family's house in Rafah.
انتشال جثماني شهيدين و12 إصابة إثر قصف طائرات الاحتلال منزل عائلة قشطة في رفح .
#Gaza_under_attack
#Palestine
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In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
“And give good tidings to those who patiently persevere, those who, when afflicted with calamity, say, ‘Indeed, we belong to God, and indeed, to Him we will return.’ Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided.”
The martyr, God willing, Faisal Mohsen Muhammad Qashta (Abu Muhammad), aged 46, and his daughter, Nour Al-Huda, aged 25, have passed away. Following the bombing of their home in the Al-Qashta neighborhood of Rafah by the occupation forces, the Al-Mada'in - Al-Ghazaleen branch of the family of the martyrs, may God Almighty have mercy on them and grant them paradise, and may He grant their families patience and solace. To God we belong and to Him we shall return.
Note: The funeral prayer will be held at 11:00 AM, before the noon prayer, at Al-Ansar Mosque.
#QashtaFamily
Content
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
﴿ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ * الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُمْ مُصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ * أُولَئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ ﴾
انتقل إلى رحمة الله تعالي
الشهي.د بإذن الله/ فيصل محسن محمد قشطة (أبو محمد) عن عمر يناهز 46 عاما وابنته نور الهدى 25 عاما . بعد قصف قوات الاحتلال لمنزلهم في حي آل قشطة بمدينة رفح
فرع المضاعين - الغزالين
سائلين الله عز وجل أن يتغمد شهداءنا بواسع رحمته ويسكنهم فسيح جنانه وأن يلهم أهلهم الصبر والسلوان. وإنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون
ملاحظة // صلاة الجنازة الساعة 11 قبل صلاة الظهر في مسجد الانصار
#عائلة قشطة
Media from The Qashta family, both at home and abroad (3)
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The final farewell 💔 Noor is gone 😭
May God have mercy on you, Noor, and grant you Paradise 💔 Oh, the pain in my heart 💔
Martyr Noor Al-Huda Faisal Mohammed Qashta
Her mother, the martyr Faisal Mohsen Mohammed Qashta
👏 God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs 👏 God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs 👏
👏 My heart and prayers are with you ❤ #Lemon
Content
الوداع الأخير 💔 نور راحت 😭
الله يرحمك يا نور ويجعل مثواكي الجنه💔 ياوجع القلب💔
الشهيدة نور الهدي فيصل محمد قشطه
والدتها الشهيد فيصل محسن محمد قشطه
👏 حسبي الله ونعم الوكيل👏 حسبي الله ونعم الوكيل 👏
👏ربي قلبي ودعواته ❤#ليمونة
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Date: 9 October 2023
Over the past two days, the Israeli army has conducted a relentless series of attacks by air, sea, and land against the civilian population in Gaza, destroying dozens of houses with their residents still inside, residential and commercial buildings—often without issuing precautionary warnings—and wiping out entire Palestinian families. Mosques and medical facilities have also come under attack.
The population is being urged, by means of random texts, to evacuate their homes, heightening fear, terror and panic among the civilian population whilst warplanes hover constantly. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, between 7 October and as of 3 p.m. on 9 October 2023, 560 Palestinians have been killed, and 2,900 have been injured. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed, resulting in the displacement of thousands of civilians. Water and electricity supplies continue to be cut off.
Al-Mezan, Al-Haq, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights strongly condemn Israel’s widespread and systematic targeting of civilians in the Gaza Strip, which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, warranting the intervention of the international community to ensure accountability. In armed conflicts, all civilians and civilian objects must always be protected. All parties must abide by their legal obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law—including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution regulating the conduct of hostilities. Israel must not treat the entire Gaza Strip as a single military objective. It is prohibited to treat as a single military objective, a number of clearly separate military objectives located in a town or city with concentrations of civilian objects.
The following are the most egregious Israeli attacks conducted in the Gaza Strip between 8 and 9 October 2023, as monitored and documented jointly by Al-Haq, Al-Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights:
At approximately 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, 8 October 2023, Israeli warplanes targeted the four-story house of the Al-Nabaheen family, east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in the Middle Area District without prior warning, killing 13 Palestinians, including 10 children and two women. The attack also resulted in the complete destruction of the house.
At approximately 12:30 p.m. on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted the four-story house of Jamil Hassan Mohammad Al-Za’anin, 66, located near the Abdul Azzam mosque in Beit Hanoun, in the North Gaza District. The four-story building was home to four families. The attack killed 20 Palestinians inside the houses, including five women and 11 children, and destroyed the house.
At approximately 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, 8 October 2023, Israeli warplanes targeted the four-story house of the Al-Assar family, east of the Al-Nusairat refugee camp in the Middle Area District. Four Palestinians were killed in the attack, including two children and a woman. The attack also led to the complete destruction of the targeted house and three neighboring houses.
At approximately 5:30 p.m. on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted the house of the Harara family, east of Al-Sheja’eyya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, killing five Palestinians and totally destroying the house.
At approximately 8:30 p.m. on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted the two-story house of the Shamallakh family, located in the Sheikh Ejlein neighborhood south of Gaza City, and home to three families. Nine Palestinians were killed in the attack, including two women and three children, and the house was completely destroyed.
At approximately 9:50 p.m. on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted an apartment in a residential building owned by the Abu Zohri family in the Al-Shaboura refugee camp in Rafah City without prior warning. The attack killed five Palestinians, including two women and an infant; 30 others sustained various injuries.
At approximately 1:20 a.m. on Monday, 9 October 2023, Israeli warplanes targeted the house of Rafat Abu Helal, a leader of the Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades, in the Bashit neighborhood of Rafah refugee camp, without prior warning. The attack resulted in the complete destruction of Abu Helal’s house and several neighboring houses with their inhabitants still inside. Raafat Abu Helal, along with 19 civilians from his family and four other families, were killed, including nine women and four children; 40 other civilians sustained various injuries.
At approximately 2:00 a.m. on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted the two-story house of the Abu Al-Amrein family in the Al-Qarara village, northeast of Khan Younis City, without prior warning. The attack destroyed the house around its inhabitants, and caused severe damage to several neighboring houses. Five Palestinians, including two women and two young girls, were recovered from the rubble. At the time of writing the civil defense teams are still trying to locate missing individuals under the rubble.
At approximately 3:00 a.m. on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted the four-story house of Mousa Samir Al-Qatanani, 64, located opposite to the Um Al-Fahm School in Beit Lahiya, in the North Gaza District, without prior warning. The house, inhabited by five families, was completely destroyed, and all 13 civilian occupants, including four women and five children, were killed.
At approximately 3:30 a.m. on Monday, 9 October 2023, Israeli warplanes targeted the two-story house of the late Ibrahim Hassan Abdulqadir Hamdan's sons, located in the Tal al-Zaatar area in Jabaliya, in the North Gaza District, without prior warning. The house, inhabited by five families, was completely destroyed, and four Palestinians were killed, including two women and two children.
At approximately 4:30 a.m. on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted the Ahmed Yassin mosque, a four-story structure located opposite to the Al-Shate’ Elementary School in Al-Shate’ refugee camp, west of Gaza City. The attack completely destroyed the mosque and killed three civilians, two women and a young girl.
At approximately 5:00 a.m. on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted the two-story house of the Fayyad family, located south of Deir al-Balah, in the Middle Area District, without prior warning. The attack resulted in the complete destruction of the house and two adjacent houses, and the killing of three Palestinians.
At approximately 6:00 a.m. on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted an open area in Al-Sammouni Street, southeast of the Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood in Gaza City. The attack resulted in the killing of two sisters, Mira Mahmoud Fouad Abu Ghneima, 6, and Lara, 5.
At approximately 7:10 a.m. on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted the two-story house of Faisal Qishta in the Qishta neighbourhood, south of Rafah City, without prior warning. The attack killed Faisal and his daughter, and injured 14 others. The house was completely destroyed due to the attack.
At approximately 11:10 a.m. on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted the Al-Sousi mosque in Al-Shate’ refugee camp, killing 11 civilians, including children.
Lastly, at noon, on Monday 9 October, the Israeli army perpetrated one of the most heinous crimes of the past two days by attacking a residential building in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza district. The building, which belonged to the Abu Eshkian family, was located in a densely populated area near shelter centers designated for displaced individuals. The attack killed 35 civilians, who were admitted by civilian cars and ambulances to the Indonesian Hospital in the same district. Another significant number of people were injured.
The number of people forcibly displaced from their homes has increased. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced that it is now providing shelters to around 73,538 internally displaced persons in 64 of its schools across all the Gaza Strip, including 45 designated for emergencies. Thousands more are expected to have taken shelter with their extended families. UNRWA has also announced that 14 of its schools were damaged. Our organizations have documented the direct targeting of some of these schools.
As part of its total warfare against the Palestinian civilian population, the Israeli government cut off electricity and water supplies to the Gaza Strip, where now electricity supply does not exceed 4 hours a day. This foreshadows catastrophic consequences in light of the disruption of water and sewage plants. The Palestinian Water Authority estimated the decrease in water supply at 40 per cent due to the interruption of supply by Mekorot, the Israeli national water company.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Al-Haq and Al Mezan condemn in the strongest terms the targeting of civilians and the destruction of homes and other private and public structures. We further condemn terrorizing the people of Gaza and displacing thousands of them from their homes, the denial of the protected civilians their right to access water and electricity. These acts are in breach of international law and are considered a collective punishment and clear war crimes.
Gaza’s protected civilian population, especially women and children, are the ones paying the price for the lack of will and inaction on the part of the international community to put an end to Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people, and address the root causes of the current situation in Palestine. As we write, Israeli crimes are increasing, also in light of the international community's silence, a catastrophic humanitarian outcome is looming in Gaza.
Our organizations call for respect for the principles of international humanitarian law and to refrain from targeting civilians under all circumstances, including targeting the civilian economic infrastructure damaging civilian livelihoods, and preventing the provision of humanitarian supplies. We call on the international community to take urgent action to stop attacks and protect civilians as an integral part of their legal obligations.
We equally renew our call on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to expedite the investigation into the situation in Palestine to hold those responsible for committing international crimes accountable.
We call on the peoples of the world, solidarity groups and friends of Palestine to continue to pressure their governments to take urgent action to stop the Israeli military attacks, and to protect civilians, their property, and the indispensable facilities needed in Gaza.
End.
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