Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0053

Incident date

October 9, 2023

Location

شارع الأرنب, خان يونس, Vicinity of Al Arnab street, Khan Younis, Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.350644, 34.309796 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Street level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On October 9th, 2023, the Israeli military allegedly conducted an airstrike on the house belonging to the Al-Astal family on Al Arnab street in the center of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip. 19 people were reported injured as a result of the strike and at least four civilians were killed, including two children and a woman.

The Alastal family Facebook page posted the names of the family members killed: Ahmed Khaled Ibrahim – Othman Al-Astal, 17 years old; Abdullah Musa Muhammad – Othman Al-Astal, 48 years old; Hayat Abdullah Musa – Othman Al-Astal, daughter of Abdullah, six years old; Umama Abdel Nasser Suleiman – Tal Al-Baraka Al-Astal, 34 years old, wife of Muhammad Musa Muhammad – Othman Al-Astal.

@ShehabAgency and other local news sources initially posted that three civilians were killed and 19 others were injured, while Abdulrahman (@abd_rahman197) posted on Twitter/X that five people were killed and “others” were injured.

Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023. The name of alleged militant Hussein Ahmed Al-Astal was also found in the MoH list, but is not included below given his likely combatant status.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces. Abdulrahman (@abd_rahman197) specified that the strike occurred “without warning”.

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:

Family members (4)

Abdullah Musa Al-Astal عبدالله موسى الاسطل
48 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 900823501
Umama Abdel Nasser Al-Astal امامة عبدالناصر الاسطل
34 years old female wife of Muhammad Musa Muhammad - Othman Al-Astal killed Matched to MoH ID 802357145
Ahmed Khaled Al-Astal احمد خالد الاسطل
17 years old male killed
Hayat Abdullah Al-Astal حياة عبدالله الاسطل
6 years old female killed Matched to MoH ID 437045024

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention Al Arnab street (شارع الأرنب) in central Khan Younis (خان يونس), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.350644, 34.309796. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

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Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4 – 5
  • (2 children1 woman1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    19
  • 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
  • Suspected target
    Palestinian Forces

Sources (17) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (15) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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

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

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

    Source: Hala Ibrahim Hassan facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Hala Ibrahim Hassan facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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

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

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

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

    Source: Katiba Khadra mosque facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Katiba Khadra mosque facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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

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

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

    Source: Hamza facebook

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4 – 5
  • (2 children1 woman1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    19
  • 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
  • Suspected target
    Palestinian Forces

Sources (17) [ collapse]