On Monday, October 9th, 2023, between 13 and 15 members of the al-Qatnani family, including five children and four women, were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike on their home in front of the Um al-Fahem school, in the town of Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip. The Palestine Center for Human Rights (PCHR) and Defence for Children International-Palestine (DCI) reported that the strike occurred without warning at approximately 3 a.m.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported that the strike completely destroyed the four floors of the home, killing all 13 civilians within it, including four women and five children. Additional social and local media sources indicated that the death toll was 15 civilians, including 6 children. The dead identified were the 63-year-old Musa Samir Musa al-Qatnani (Abu Samir), his 57-year-old wife Basma Abdel Aziz Al-Qattanani (Umm Samir), and their adult sons: 41-year-old Samir Musa Samir Al-Qatnani, 31-year-old Omar Musa Samir Al-Qatnani and Hamada Musa Samir al-Qatnani.

35-year-old Rana Nasser Abd al-Aziz al-Shalab (Samir al-Qatnani’s wife) was killed alongside their four children – 18-year-old daughter Aseel Samir Musa al-Qatnani, Basma Samir Mousa al-Qatnani  (16), Mohammad Samir Mousa al-Qatnani (13), and Sally Samir Mousa al-Qatnani (11). Relatives posted generally that Abu Samir and Umm Samir, their three children, each of their wives, and their grandchildren were killed. Children of Omar Musa Samir,  one-year-old Jawan Omar Mousa al-Qatnani (also reported as Joan) and three-year-old Ali Omar Mousa al-Qatnani were also killed. Rana al-Shalabi’s mother posted that her daughter Rana and Rana’s children were also killed. While the two other members of the family killed have not been named, it is not known where Rana and Samir’s daughter Aleem was at the time of the strike.

27-year-old Maha Ahmed Abdullah Ghunaim (al-Qatnani) and 26-year-old marketing representative Muhammad Musa Samir al-Qatnani were also among the victims of the strike.

According to the victim’s social media profiles, earlier this year Rana al-Shalab and her husband Samir celebrated both her graduation with a Bachelor’s Degree in General Nursing from the University College of Applied Sciences Gaza, as well as their daughter Aleem’s high school graduation. Muhammed Musa al-Qatnani celebrated his daughter’s first birthday a few days prior to the bombing. Relatives, friends and neighbours mourned the loss on social media, with posts such as “Beneath the ruins of this house, 15 martyrs from the Al-Qatnani family…an entire family removed from the civil registry”, “It is with great sadness that we received the news of the martyrdom of our family and relatives….the martyrdom of Abu Samir Al-Qatnani family and of our dear sister, Rana Nasser, and her husband and children under the Israeli bombing in Gaza…/We belong to God and to Him we shall return… Survival belongs to God/15 martyrs from the Qatnani family”, and another saying “Oh God, the amount of pain/There is sadness in our neighbourhood.”

According to North Jersey News, Mohammad Qatanani, a relative of the family who is the Imam of the Islamic Center of Passaic County in New Jersey, learnt of the strike when he saw “images of his family members flashed on the screen of the Al Jazeera network.” He was quoted as saying, “The whole family has been taken out…My uncle, his wife, three children, their wives and their children. In total 15. It’s not only my family. There are thousands of families we are losing every day. You can’t imagine the situation they are in right now.” An influential member of New Jersey’s religious communities who has spoken at various churches and synagogues across the state, he received condolences from state officials. It was reported that after his family fled Gaza in 1948, he has not been able to return due to the blockade imposed by the Israeli government on the Gaza Strip; he has therefore not seen the family in Gaza for decades, and they have likewise been unable to leave.

Maha al-Qatnani, whose husband and children were also killed, is survived by her brother Karama Ghunaim, who mourned her saying “….With souls satisfied with God’s judgement and destiny, we received the news of the martyrdom of my sister Maha, her husband, children and all those who were with her…/We ask the Almighty to surround them with His vast mercy and to dwell them in a spacious manner/We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return”.

Where possible, names have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) lists, which include national ID numbers. Since October 26, 2023, the MoH has released six lists, along with an additional list of medical professionals, which was released on September 17, 2024. Airwars is matching individuals to the first list where their name appeared. In regard to this incident, names are matched to the fourth ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on April 30th, 2024.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strikes to Israeli forces.