In the early hours of October 12th 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike hit the Al Bashiti family house in the Ma’an area, east of Khan Younis city, in the southern Gaza strip, killing nine members of Al Bashiti family, including two women and six children.

Ahmad Albashti, assumed to be a relative of the family, posted on Facebook that “their home was targeted while they were sleeping”.

The Khan Younis Facebook page wrote that Al Bashiti family members “died at dawn”.  Anadolu Agency reported that eyewitnesses said strike left the house in complete ruins and inflicted damage to nearby buildings.

Initially Shehab News reported five casualties and “a number” of injured civilians. No other sources reported on injuries, therefore Airwars has quantified the injury toll as 2-2. Later Wafa News alongside Ahmad Al Bashiti and Facebook users Mohammed Ziyad and Anwar Abu Fadel reported about nine victims.

55-year old Professor As’ad (Asaad) Hamad Suleiman Al Bashiti (Abu Hammad) was killed together with his wife Aida Al Bashiti Umm Hammad and their four children: their three daughters, 16-year old Amal Asaad Al Bashiti, 13-year old  Zainab Asaad Al Bashiti, and 14-year old Lubna Al Bashiti Umm Khaled; as well as their 9-year old son Mohammed Asaad Al Bashiti.

Among the victims of the attack was also Asaad Al Bashiti’s sister, 54-year old Layla Hamad Suleiman Al Bashiti (Umm Khaled) with her children, a 12-year old daughter named Sondos (Zandus) Ziad Al Bashiti and a son named Hossam Ziad Al Bashiti.

The death of Al Bashiti family members was reported on by their friends, families, and neighbours online. Members of the Al Bashiti family, Mohammad Al Bashiti, Ahmad Al Bashiti, Anwar Abu Fadel, and Hani Al Bashiti posted news of their relatives’ deaths to their accounts. Additionally, the Mesmeh family, the Ma’an family, and the Khan Younis Facebook page offered condolences to the family in online testimonies..

Sondos Al Bashiti was remembered as a “polite student” by the principal of Umm Salamah Basic School and her administrative and teaching staff. Her mother Layla Al Bashiti was a member of the school’s Parents Council. The news of their death was met with “great sadness and sorrow.”

Mohammed Aliwaiti shared his story about Sondos Ziad Al Bashiti. He met the young girl Sondos during his visit to Palestine. Sondos visited him so that she could send a gift and letter for her brother, Ahmed, in Belgium. She wrote in her letter that “she longed to see him” and hug him. Unfortunately, she died before she was ever able to meet her brother.

Abu Sultan remembered Hossam Ziad Al-Bashiti as one of his students in Gaza Strip in a Facebook post, also posting his picture among other students. Adla Awad remembered her colleague Laila Al-Bashiti, Khaled’s mother, and her family in another Facebook testimony.

When sources identified a belligerent, all of them attributed the strike to Israeli forces. The attack happened without prior warning, according to the Anadolu Agency reporter.

Where possible, Airwars has matched names with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of nearly 7000 victims’ names and ID numbers released on October 26th.