Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0108

Incident date

October 11, 2023

Location

شوكة, Al Shouka, Rafah, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.25864, 34.28244 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On October 11th 2023, an alleged airstrike/artillery strike by the Israeli military on the Fojo family house located in the Al-Shouka area, east of Rafah city in the Gaza Strip reportedly killed at least one civilian, 21-year old Osama Hani Youssef Fojo.

Human rights organisation Al Mezan noted that the Fojo family house was one of the homes to be destroyed in Rafah during a period of intense bombardment by Israeli forces.

The late Osama Hani Fojo was mentioned in a number of social media obituaries posted by friends and family members. His uncle Mohsen Ahmad Fojo wrote in a Facebook testimony: “My nephew, the beloved of my heart, my soul, a martyr, Osama Hani Fojo.” He also posted a video of Osama’s funeral. According to Mohsen, four of Osama’s siblings (Khaled, Muhammad, Ahmed, and Bosli) had also died but the post did not specify when. Nourdeen Shaweesh expressed his condolences to the neighbouring Fojo family on the death of their son.

Airwars was able to find Osama Fojo’s name among 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.

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:

Usama Hani Fojo اسامة هاني فوجو
21 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 412314544

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Al Shouka (شوكة), for which the generic coordinates are: 31.25864, 34.28244. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • 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

Sources (8) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mohsen ahmad Fojo facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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

    Source: Mohsen Ahmad Fojo facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

Israeli Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • 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

Sources (8) [ collapse]