Airwars assessment
On August 1, 2024, the bodies of Muhammad Shafiq Omar Issa, 42 or 43 years old, and Sharaf Yasser Abdel Hamid Abu al-Eish, 29 years old, were identified at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, both of whom were allegedly killed by the Israeli military.
Facebook posts by Umm Sami al-Masri and Mohammad Mahmoud included photos of their civilian IDs, reportedly recovered from the Nasser Hospital morgue. This incident is considered a placeholder until further information comes to light on the location and incident in which the two men were killed.
The families of Muhammad and Sharaf quickly responded with obituaries for the two men. A cousin of Sharaf Yasser Abdel Hamid Abu al-Eish, whose Facebook account has the name ‘A Brilliant Personality’, wrote “may God have mercy on him and please him. May God have mercy on you, my honour, and give patience to the heart of your family, O Lord of the worlds.” They added “I swear to God, every day is very precious and close, my Lord, and all patience comes from you.”
A Facebook post on the business page of Express Fashion, reportedly run by a cousin of Muhammad Shafiq Omar Issa, said “May God have mercy on you, cousin, and may God give patience to the family. We bear our afflictions as one.” The post included a photo of Muhammad smiling in a tan polo shirt, wearing sunglasses and headphones on a sunny day. Mohmed Issa al-Khalidi, another cousin of Muhammad Shafiq Omar Issa, dedicated the following passage from the Quran “And do not think that those who are killed in the cause of God are dead; rather, they are alive with their Lord, provided for.” to his cousin on his Facebook page. He included a photo of his cousin Muhammad smiling in front of the beach, again wearing his signature sunglasses.
Both men’s names were 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 sixth ‘Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza’ list, which was released on September 16, 2024. The Ministry of Health list, which explicitly attributes the death of those named to the Israeli military, was the only source to attribute the deaths of Muhammad and Sharaf to the Israeli military, therefore this incident has been graded as a “single source claim.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (8) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (6) [ collapse]
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