During the evening of Monday, October 9th, 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike struck the three-story Qannan family home located near the Al-Qubba Mosque in the Al-Mawasi area of the town of Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, killing up to 10 members of the family, including five children and three women, one of whom was pregnant. According to an Elbalad news report referring to the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the deadly attack happened without prior warning.

73-year-old Professor Muhammad Issa Muhammad Qannan (“Abu Issa”) was killed together with his 71 year-old wife Professor Zuhdiyah Mahmud Muhammad Qannan (“Umm Issa”) (also referred to as Zuhdiya Mahmoud Darwish Qannan), their 46-year old daughter Wissal Muhammad Issa Qannan, their 40-year old son, engineer Mahmoud Muhammad Issa Qanan (Abu Jihad), Mahmoud’s pregnant wife Khitam Abu Odeh (possibly a 36-year old Khatam Sameer Abdul Rahman Qannan, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry), and the five children of Mahmoud and Khitam.

Among the deceased children of Mahmoud and Khitam are a daughter, Mayar Mahmoud Muhammad Qannan (12 years old), a son, Muhammad Mahmoud Muhammad Qannan (10 years old), a daughter, Reem Mahmoud Muhammad Qannan (7 years old), a son, Omar Mahmoud Muhammad Qannan (5 years old), and a daughter, Lina Mahmoud Muhammad Qannan (3 years old).

The late Professor Muhammad Issa Muhammad  Qannan (“Abu Issa”) was a Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Asqalan Association and was described as a “sincere and generous professor” in a Facebook post in the group “Society of Asqalan people”.

Initially, the news sources, including Alghad news, Elbalad news and Wafa news as well as Twitter/X accounts reported that eight members of the family were killed and their bodies were transported to Nasser hospital. However, on October 11, 2023, Shehab Agency reported that two additional bodies were recovered from under the rubble of the Qannan family home, thus increasing the number of victims to ten. According to @Zakariya, more than 20 ambulances rushed to the site of the strike at the Qannan home.

Family members and friends expressed their sadness about the tragic incident in Facebook posts. Nisreen Abu Kawalek wrote in her testimony about the devastating losses for her husband, a surviving member of the Qannan family: “With patient and hopeful hearts, we received the news of the martyrdom of my husband’s family (my husband’s mother, my husband’s father, my husband’s sister, my husband’s brother, his wife, and his five children)”.

A surviving son, Areeg Qannan, honoured the memory of his parents and siblings in a Facebook post, mourning the death of his “father, the crown of my head, and my pride, Professor Muhammad Issa Muhammad Qanan (Abu Issa)”, his “mother, the pulse of my life, my companion, and my refuge after God, the able professor/Zahdia Mahmoud Darwish Qanan (Umm Issa)”, and his “caring brother, of beautiful character and good influence, Engineer Mahmoud Muhammad Issa Qannan”. Sefyan Awda posted the pictures of the young children who lost their lives in the attack.

Where possible, names have been matched with 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.